January 20, 2008

New Discovery: Nathan's Blog on Public Health, Human Rights and Faith

I've been a bit out of the blogging loop since my move this Fall but as you may have noticed, I'm getting back into the swing of things. I've just discovered my old friend Nathan's blog covering the very important (not to mention interesting) interdisciplinary topic of Public Health, Human Rights and Faith. I'm very excited to dive in to this blog and an area of study I am excited to explore.

Link: Public Health & Human Rights: Thoughts on Health, Rights and Faith.

Posted by Amber at 10:45 PM

January 19, 2008

New post on D'souza blog

There is a new article on Joseph D'souza's site entitled, "Racism blindness, cricket, and the Untouchables" which highlights recent events to illustrate the cruel reality of both caste and racism in India. A good quick read.

Posted by Amber at 02:55 PM

November 14, 2007

FreeRice: Addiction with a Conscience

Not sure if that's the best title for this post. But a little healthy vocab quiz addiction could mean rice for the hungry.

FreeRice.com declares:

For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice through the United Nations to help end world hunger

A nice idea.

Thanks for the tip, Alex!

Posted by Amber at 04:36 PM | comments (1)

November 30, 2006

NEED magazine debuts

Take a few minutes out of your day to check out the premiere issue of NEED magazine. WorldChanging showcases the magazine on their site and interviews one of the creators as well (link).

NEED spotlights organizations addressing human need around the world and provides information for the reader on how to connect with the organizations' missions. Two organizations I'm familiar with are featured in this first issue: MercyShips and International Justice Mission (IJM).

Perusing the online edition of the magazine, I'm struck by two good practices. One, is the simplicity and concise nature of the stories. Photos tell most of the story and are accompanied by a paragraph or two—or sometimes just captions. The objective is not to overwhelm the reader, but to inform and encourage. Second, I'm impressed by the cognizance of the editors to ethical quandaries that naturally accompany photojournaling people in varying degrees of crisis. The photos from IJM blur distinguishing features of the girls and the IJM workers to protect their identities. A "Viewing Advisory" wisely accompanies a "before/after" photo of a man who had a large facial tumor removed by a MercyShips doctor (link). Best practices indeed.

Links:

Happy reading.

Posted by Amber at 01:43 PM | comments (4)

March 10, 2006

Some Good News: Secretary Norton Resigns

Now former Secretary Gale Norton has resigned. This is of some relief, although the notorious legacy of the U.S. Department of the Interior hardly encourages hope in the appointment of a steward that could actually treat the indigenous people of the U.S. not to mention the environment with any dignity, respect or justice. Nevertheless, I am glad to see her go. Among other things, her notorious behaviour and managerial decisions relating to Cobell v. Norton (the individual Indian trust management class action suit) definitely validate, if not summon, her resignation. I just hope the next appointee will not engage in managerial actions that delay proceedings, destroy evidence, or desperately attempt to continue the deny individual Indian trust holders just compensation.

Quoted from this Indian Country article: Interior Secretary Gale Norton resigns (2006-03-10):

Norton has had a slippery relationship with American Indian tribes, especially on the issues of trust reform and the reorganization of the BIA. All tribal leaders in the Great Plains opposed her plan to reorganize the BIA.

Some Alaska Natives will always remember her as the person who led the drive to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.

Norton was also at the heart of the controversial Cobell v. Norton lawsuit over Indian trust management. She was held in contempt of court for not complying with U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth's orders to provide materials and research historic data for the Individual Indian Trust accounts.

Posted by Amber at 02:34 PM

January 26, 2006

Assassination Attempt Made on Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng

In [dis]honor of Google China's compliance with the Chinese government's oppressive will, here's a bit of news that I noticed on the front page of The Epoch Times (in a news stand in front of the building where I work). I found the article online; here's the link:

The Epoch Times | Assassination Attempt Made on Gao Zhisheng [Updated]

Related:
Sites Google Agreed to Censor in China

Posted by Amber at 01:16 PM

January 25, 2006

Indian Country Today: Contruction of Seattle Homeless Center to Begin in February

SEATTLE - Forty-five homeless people died on the streets of Seattle in 2005. Each death shows how nightmarish life on the streets can be.

Rhonda Starr, 39, Warm Springs, died of unknown causes in January 2005. Susan Eileen Redhorn, 51, Yakima/Blackfeet, died of an infection in May. Jesse Madera, a 55-year-old American Indian, died of unknown causes in June. Alpheus George, 38, Tlingit, fell onto Interstate 5 in September. Davina Garrison, 43, Navajo, was murdered in November.

All told, six homeless people were murdered; seven committed suicide. Others died of an overdose, heart disease or infections. One was run over by a train, another by a truck.

When Chief Seattle Club opens at its new site in January 2007, it won't be able to give American Indians and Alaska Natives a place to sleep at night because of neighborhood regulations preventing the establishment of a homeless shelter.

But the club will be better equipped to help homeless Native people get off the streets.

Link
Posted by Amber at 02:10 PM

December 07, 2005

Clippings Roundup

I've (finally) started using Bloglines to read/scan/skim updated blogs, zines, newspapers, etc. and one of the features is "Save to Clippings Folder". I've been meaning to post these as I go, but what a surprise, this task has been neglected. So here goes:

Techy stuff

Around the world

  • BBC: Women resist 'honour' marriages—Five women from the same family in Pakistan's Punjab province have refused to be "united" with their prospective husbands as ordered by tribal elders.
  • BBC: Girls Still Miss Out on Schooling—New figures show the UN has fallen well short of its target of getting as many girls educated as boys. (Maybe that's because it's a ginormous problem that needs widespread attention and coordinated strategy.)
  • BBC: US firm to fight Somali pirates— I just thought it was somewhat ironic that there seems to be a comedic renaissance of pirate culture afoot in Internet-Land and here on the BBC is a story of US firm who's managed to score a contract for fighting pirates off the coast of Somalia. Who knew?

Fun(ny)

...and a side of eye-candy (re: film/trailers/animation/photography)

Thus endeth the linking extravaganza. Until next time, adieu and farewell.

Posted by Amber at 01:20 PM

Good Idea: Community Center in Apartment Complex

Spotted this excellent notion in today's Oregonian, (Dec. 7, 2005, page B3):
(click picture to enlarge if you have a fast Internet connection or a lot of patience; if not, captioned text is typed out below)

Building Community

Hawo Ali builds a tower of Legos on Tuesday in a community room at Beaverton's Fir Crest Manor Apartments. The staff from Firm Grove Elementary School donated videos, games, toys, and books to the recently refurbished community room. The apartment complex, across the street from the school, is home to roughly 75 children under the age of 12, most of whom are recent Somali immigrants. Companies including Intel, Comcast, and Fred Meyer donated computers, Internet service and playground equipment to the project.

Olivia Bucks, The Oregonian

I have a similar idea, but on a smaller scale for the apartment complex where I tutor Ruth (not her real name), who is also an immigrant from Somalia on refugee status. The complex is only 2 buildings, so my thought is to convert one of the apartment units into a community center for the 10-20 kids who live there. But where to get the money...

Posted by Amber at 12:57 PM

November 01, 2005

Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as a violation of Gwich�in human rights

From a press release from Cultural Survival:

The Gwich'in Steering Committee announced on October 25 the release of a new report outlining the implications of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as a violation of Gwich'in human rights under international law.

A Moral Choice for the United States—The Human Rights Implications for the Gwich'in of Drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge was prepared by the public interest law firm Trustees for Alaska, on behalf of and under the auspices of the Episcopal Church, the Gwich'in Nation, and Professor Richard J. Wilson, Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University.

Links:
Posted by Amber at 03:37 PM

October 26, 2005

Make Poverty History? Not so much.

Quite a different perspective from the "mainstream" on the efficacy of the Make Poverty History campaign and the role of celebrities in advocating the cause of the poor. Via The Independent (UK):

Do stars really aid the cause?

Posted by Amber at 01:00 PM | comments (0)

AlertNet: Darfur is key to resolving multiple conflicts in Sudan

"You have three different crises at the moment," he said. "South Sudan, where peace was established based on the sharing of oil revenues; you have Darfur, and you have eastern Sudan, where the implications are also in relation to the neighbours and the problem between Eritrea and Ethiopia."

"Darfur ... in my opinion is the key for success or failure for Sudan as a whole," he said. "If there is success in Darfur, it will have a positive impact for coordinating a peace agreement in the south and for allowing peace to develop in the east."

The reverse, he warned, would probably produce the opposite result: "If it gets worse in Darfur, it will deteriorate, and even in the south the agreement will be weakened."

Read more at AlertNet. Link: Reuters AlertNet - SUDAN: Darfur situation deteriorating - UNHCR

You may also want to check out the Save Darfur web site. They host an excellent weekly email newsletter that highlights news and information related to the situation and suggests ways for you to take action.

Posted by Amber at 12:38 PM | comments (0)

October 17, 2005

House hears testimony on caste-based discrimination, untouchability, and the plight of the Dalits in India

Something VERY interesting happened today (October 6, 2005). The U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations heard testimony from Indian human rights leaders, including Joseph D'Souza, on the situation of the Dalits in India. They testified about the unconstitutional practice of untouchability, situations of blatant disregard of religious freedom, and caste-based discrimination.

I watched most the hearing live on the Web. The video is now posted on the Subcommittee's Web site and I'll include a link to it below as well. Also, the full written testimonies are also online and links are provided in the list below.

Hearing: India's Unfinished Agenda: Equality and Justice for 200 Million Victims of the Caste System
Other links of interest on the Dalits and religious freedom
A couple of books that were cited in oral testimonies during the hearing:
Other issues that affect Dalits in India (unbeknownst to the world's leaders in some cases)

Disclaimer: articles found via a quick Google search; I can't vouch for the other content on these web sites, but the articles I link to below I felt were fairly good primers on the topics.

It's well worth it to learn about the Dalit movement in India as well as the discriminatory practices that gravely insult the dignity of human beings all around the world. I hope you will take some time to read or to listen to at least one of the resources I listed. You may find yourself learning more about how God feels about injustice and that may draw you nearer to Him, which is a very good thing, wouldn't you agree?

Posted by Amber at 04:47 PM

September 28, 2005

Looking for something to read?

Whether you're looking for something to peruse or to ponder, here are a few suggestions for the curious and conscientious alike.

FEMA to reimburse faith groups for helping victims (via AlertNet)

  • What motivates your charity?
  • What are some good reasons for a church to apply for federal reimbursement? What are some bad ones?

Indian flood-hit state rushes medicine to homeless (via AlertNet)

  • Do you find yourself more likely or less likely to take action in response to disaster around the world after Hurricane Katrina? (This question is really geared for readers lately living in the U.S.)

Darfur's Smallest Witnesses (via PBS, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer)

  • How do these children's drawings bear witness to the gross criminal acts happening in Darfur? Do they provide hope in any way?
  • We are called by Jesus to become like little children. Can we learn anything from these children's drawings about right and wrong? Justice and injustice? The mind and heart of God?

Please feel free to post your thoughts on these questions as comments.

Posted by Amber at 03:16 PM

September 21, 2005

Just Another Kink in the Chain of Command

Warning: may contain cynicism. proceed accordingly.

As the nation continues to reel in horror at the unearthed ghosts of its political and social history, the day-to-day operations of many branches of government continue, unimpeded. Apparently, in the Department of the Interior, directed by the infamous Gale Norton, that day-to-day business includes carelessly trashing government documents related to an ongoing lawsuit in which it is named and directly implicated. (Not to say that if it had destroyed the records "with care," it would improve their ethical, or rather, unethical, position.) Consider:

In the letter dated Sept. 13, NARA attorney Jason R. Baron said that members of the agency "noticed what appeared to be federal records in one of the dumpsters" at the main achieves building on Pennsylvania Avenue on Sept. 1. Among the records destroyed were documents from the 1950s from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Baron said.

Subsequently, "more of what appear to be Indian records were discovered in a wastebasket in the stack areas at Main Archives," Baron said in the letter. "It is not known if these two incidents are related."

If this had been the first time such (literally) destructive behavior had been spotlighted, it would be shocking. As it is, this anecdote is only added to a long line of "repugnant, desparate actions we've come to expect from Interior Secretary Gale Norton and her unethical managers," says Dennis M. Gingold, lead plaintiff for the Indians who are seeking a full accounting of their government-managed individual Indian Trust accounts. (Quoted here.)

The IndianTrust press releases are always good reading, whether they contain scathing judgements from the Court or the plaintiff lawyers, like this one, in which Gingold suggests that the only way to stop the Interior from destroying evidence is to toss Norton in the clinker:

monopoly1_200w.jpg"Despite numerous court orders to preserve records related to the individual Indian Trust, the Secretary and the Interior Department continue to destroy irreplaceable trust documents three blocks from the federal courthouse where they were held in contempt for destroying trust records. Unless — and until — Norton is thrown in jail, she will continue to destroy trust documents in order to undermine this 10-year-old litigation," he said. "When a sitting cabinet level official feels that they can destroy protected trust records 60 yards from where the Constitution is displayed, we have a government that is out of control." (emphasis mine)

Too bad he didn't add, "and throw away the key." My fear is others equally lacking in integrity and sound leadership will only take her place.

Link: Indian Trust - Cobell v. Norton Press Release:
Government Caught Destroying More Indian Records in Violation of Court Orders

(Oh, that justice would roll down like a river.)

Posted by Amber at 10:40 AM

September 14, 2005

Visual communications, good causes, and mixed messages

Today's Reuter's AlertNet has an interesting article on the lamentable use of what is being termed "development pornography," in which naked children or women are photographed in a pathetic state and in turn that photograph is used by NGOs to raise money for relief and development causes.

The problem is the double standard being employed: would you want your child photographed naked and sick for the entire world to see? Would you want your mother photographed bare-breasted and dehydrated so that money could be raised for a cause being implemented possibly on the same continent? Put in these terms, the issue seems clear cut, but the issue is in fact far from being clear.

The poor of the world are forgotten and disenfranchised by definition and a shocking image seems justified to awake a complacent global population to the demise of their neighbors. But does that shocking image create and reinforce a stereotype that in effect creates and reinforces a barrier that keeps people emotionally, spiritually, and physically at a distance from their neighbors? The picture of a child with a bloated stomach and rib cage pressed against his paper-thin skin says, "I should pity you, I should give money to relieve my conscience," right? How often does it say, "I recognize you. You are my brother, my sister, my child, my mother, and my father. You are my Jesus. I will go to you in compassion, love, and respect and I will carry your burden. I will lift you up out of the pit." I don't know how often images of unnamed malnourished children assumed to be living somewhere in a continent of 54 countries really moves people to that conclusion. My guess is, not very often.

This is a relatively new debate to me, and I'm not the only one, as this article notes:

"It's got worse in the last 10 years," said Nikki van der Gaag, a freelance writer and editor. "There's a whole new generation of people working in NGOs who've never had this debate before."

Source: Reuters AlertNet—Aid workers lament rise of 'development pornography'

If you want to dig a little deeper into this issue, here is the link to the article mentioned as well as a couple links recommended at the end of the article:

Peace.

Posted by Amber at 11:27 AM

September 12, 2005

Naomi Klein on Reconstruction

One of the most critical issues to face the United States in its history as a nation has been thrusted into the spotlight by Hurricane Katrina: The Reconstruction of the South.

The U.S. has never finished the task of reconstructing the South after the Civil War (1861-1865), indeed the task has been set aside and neglected for well over a century, and now the question is once again posed by countless editorial writers, displaced residents, journalists, advocates, and citizens from many different walks of life: how will we rebuild the South?

Naomi Klein, a journalist and most notably the author of No Logo, offers up her opinion on how New Orleans in particular should be rebuilt: at the direction and oversight of the evacuees.

Link: Let the People Rebuild New Orleans (The Nation, posted September 8, 2005)

Posted by Amber at 10:31 AM

September 09, 2005

Portland Actively Awaits Evacuees: More Ways to Help

Update: Oregon on hold, again.

On The Oregonian's Help Blog today, listed are a variety of ways to help, highlights from columnist S. Renee Mitchell's column this morning. From the sound of things, local businesses have really stepped up to help provide for 500 poor and displaced arriving tomorrow from the Gulf Coast. But there's still more to be done.

Here's a few highlights of ways to help: (Check out the Help Blog on for more.)

People who want to meet evacuees at the airport may call Joyce Harris (who works at the organization where I work) at 503-816-3960. Call today, because I think they're arriving Saturday.

Planning and action for the mental health of students and teachers is a huge need:

If you have a clinical license in mental health or are a licensed medical doctor or nurse, call 503-528-5784 and immediately tell the Red Cross about your qualifications. Other volunteers can call the same number, but workers are so overwhelmed, it might take a while to get back to you.

Read more about the situation of students in teachers in affected Southern states in this PDF document from the Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA.

Also, here are some free downloadable resources listed in [PDF] About Planning and Action for the Mental Health Needs of Students and School Staff in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:

Haven't heard anything about schools building teaching capacity, although I'm sure it's on the discussion table. This goes for anyone who wants to help in a professional capacity, if the organization/school/business through which you want to assist Katrina victims doesn't already know you exist, then make sure they know who you are and what your qualifications are so that they can call upon you when you are needed. If you want to teach, make sure the district(s) have your application on file, quickest way may be to get on the sub list. If you're already a part of an organization that could potentially help, plan and prepare your organization/company/church, if you haven't already, then communicate that to local paper, the Welcoming Committee in your city, or other organizations that are already helping. By partnering with others already mobilized, your organization may be able to help alleviate some of the burden.

Cash is always welcome. Northwest Medical Teams, as well as many other organizations, accept donations on their Web site . Just make sure you know they're involved—give responsibly.

More Links:

Happy giving.

Posted by Amber at 10:01 AM

September 08, 2005

Now we're getting somewhere: Ways to Help

If you're in the Portland area, here are some ways to help incoming evacuees coming this weekend. From The Oregonian's Help Blog:

A Welcome Oregon Donations Center will serve as a central location for donations. No. 1 need: Money.

Call phone bank: 7 a.m.-10 p.m.
Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Numbers: 2-1-1 or 1-800-723-3638.

Other top needs: School supplies, kitchen utensils, small appliances, new or nearly new chairs, sofas, beds, tables, towels, bedding.

Not needed at this time: Clothing, stoves, refrigerators or large appliances, nonhousehold items, food.

Donation center: At Northwest Medical Teams' Tigard headquarters, 14150 S.W. Milton Court, Tigard. Donated items will be accepted 8 a.m.-5 p.m., seven days a week.

Links:

Happy helping.

Posted by Amber at 04:31 PM

500 evacuees to arrive in Portland on Saturday

This just in: Evacuees may arrive on Saturday

Federal officials notified Gov. Ted Kulongoski Thursday morning that Oregon should be prepared to receive about 500 hurricane evacuees on Saturday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has designated Oregon as a receiving state and asked that preparations for evacuees remain in place.

OregonLive.com: More from The Oregonian
Posted by Amber at 04:16 PM

Oregon Dept. of Education Lists Ways to Help Gulf Region Students and Teachers

I work for an educational organization and we just received some information about education-related relief efforts targeted for teachers and students in recent hurricane-affected Gulf Region schools.

Cash is always the preferred method because of shipping costs (always make sure you give to a credible organization), but there is also a more "tangible" way to help suggested (for Oregonians, at least) on ODE's site, in which you gather a teacher or student supply kit and drop it off at a Oregon National Guard Armory Location for them to take to the Gulf Region. All relevant links, including supply lists and Armory locations, are listed on the Oregon Department of Education's web site.

Posted by Amber at 02:27 PM | comments (1)

Portland told not to expect evacuees

...But the weather's so mild and sure it rains, but it's not 90 degrees when it does! Still, according to The Oregonian, Northwest may welcome few evacuees

Posted by Amber at 09:34 AM

September 06, 2005

Portland to take 1000

From Oregon gears up to take in 1,000 Katrina evacuees (via OregonLive):

Gov. Ted Kulongoski responded Friday evening to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in national relief efforts. When he got the call, he responded: "Yes, absolutely, we'll take 1,000, and we'll make this happen," said Holly Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Kulongoski's office.

Red Cross staff worked through the night, partnering with Portland Public Schools, the Salvation Army, Portland police and other government agencies to arrange clothing and food deliveries for the evacuees, said Mary Miller, spokeswoman for the Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter.

"This is a national disaster relief operation that's been brought to Portland," Miller said. "We are urging the public to take into consideration the well-being of these individuals who will have gone through something we can't imagine. They need to be protected. They're going to be staying in a shelter so they can have the appropriate health care and screening."

Miller asked residents not to overwhelm the Red Cross with calls offering to donate specific items or inviting evacuees to stay with them.

The best way to help right now, Miller said, is to donate to the national Disaster Relief Fund for Hurricane Katrina. "That money will be coming to Portland," she said. "And give to the Salvation Army or the Goodwill as you would typically do."

(emphasis and link mine)

Links related to this article:
Other Northwest Agencies responding to Hurricane Katrina victims:

Others? Post in comments if you wish.

Posted by Amber at 11:55 AM | comments (2)

August 19, 2005

Study suggests that U.S. reduce poverty to improve nationwide school achievement

"The data presented in this study suggest that the most powerful policy for improving our nations' [U.S.] school achievement is a reduction in family and youth poverty." —Read Our Impoverished View of Educational Reform, by David C. Berliner (August 2, 2005)

Posted by Amber at 10:34 AM

August 12, 2005

Mixed Messages

A woman meets with a welfare case worker to sign forms to receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families grant money. Several weeks ago she lost her job at a hotel doing laundry and has had several people helping her to get an appointment with her caseworker. But she walks out of the meeting bewildered and with no money to pay rent and no food stamps to get money for her and her 3-year-old daughter. How could this have happened? Was the caseworker cruel and unfeeling? Did the system fail miserably? No. The caseworker was probably as confused as the woman. The problem was pure miscommunication. The problem was the interpreter.

It wasn't the interpreter's fault that he didn't know the particular dialect of Somali that the woman speaks. But he might have known that he was missing something. He might have known that he didn't understand enough of what was being said. He might have understood enough to understand that through his faulty interpretation, an injustice was sorely felt by a desperate refugee longing to assimilate in American suburbia.

If you pray for the refugees that live in our midst, remember also to pray for their advocates, interpreters, and caseworkers. The circumstances of their lives are in many cases dictated by the choices and actions of these people.

Posted by Amber at 09:50 AM

August 08, 2005

Violence in Haiti wears on medical ministry

Judy Dohner, a Humility of Mary Sister who works as a hospital administrator at St. Damien Children's Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, sent an update to the National Catholic Reporter in July on how the violence in Haiti is affecting lives of Haitians and ministers alike. Link: Global Perspective: August 9, 2005 Violence ripples through Haitian lives.

Posted by Amber at 02:18 PM

August 05, 2005

How Niger Famine Came to This

TIMELINE: How Niger’s food crisis unfolded

Posted by Amber at 07:47 AM

August 04, 2005

Emergency Food for Niger

Mike at the One Year Bible Blog sent out a special e-mail about the famine in Niger and included a link to World Vision where you can donate money now. World Vision is a highly reputable organization and they have people in Niger right now responding. World Vision has a dedicated history and committment to children around the world and I know that money given to them will go straight to attending to the severe medical and nutritional needs of the children suffering right now.

Here's the link to give: World Vision Online Donations: Basic Needs

Posted by Amber at 11:37 AM

August 02, 2005

Lax security on Interior computers contributes to ongoing injustice toward Native Americans

WASHINGTON, July 30 — One of the longest evidentiary hearings in the recent history of U.S. District Court here has ended with strong calls for increased controls over government computers holding information on individual Indian Trust accounts.

Citing the ease with which computer consultants hacked into the computers, lawyers for Indians in a class action lawsuit over the government's acknowledged mismanagement of the accounts finished 59 days of hearings Friday afternoon with a plea to disconnect the computers from the Internet.

"It is not just a matter of computer security," said the lawyers. "It is a matter of the security of the Indian's trust accounts, the only money that many of the nation's poorest citizens have," they said.

— Cobell v. Norton 7/30/2005 Press Release: Lengthy Hearing Ends with Pleas for Controls on Interior Computers
Posted by Amber at 10:46 AM

Death of a leader strains peace process in Sudan

After reading the article I blogged yesterday, Sudan's Darfur crisis and the American Media, I googled Emily Wax on washingtonpost.com; indeed her reports have consistently made the pages of the Post. In today's Washington Post, Wax reports on the implications of the death of John Garang, a newly installed leader and key mover of a peace process that is still very young and fragile. Included in the article is good summary background information on the peace process and the situation in Darfur. Here's the link:

Sudan's Fledgling Peace Now in Peril


Posted by Amber at 09:22 AM

Eleven charities unite to make appeal for Niger

Thirteen of the UK's major aid agencies, including Action Aid, the British Red Cross, World Vision, Oxfam and Save the Children who come together in the DEC to respond to major disasters overseas, hope the public will respond to their appeal. —BBC NEWS | UK | Disaster group makes Niger appeal
Posted by Amber at 09:08 AM

August 01, 2005

Heros reporting on Darfur

In the U.S., where reports of genocide seldom reach the eyes and ears of military families, voters, and readers of People, an article about those who do prioritize Sudan is worth a read. Read about the heros reporting on Sudan.

Posted by Amber at 04:45 PM

July 21, 2005

Rights for Dalit Christians?

In my very limited education on the human rights situation in India, I have been told that Dalit Christians are severely disadvantaged because they are ineligible for some of the social affirmative action programs that are designed and targeted for Dalits. So this news today is very interesting because it seems to be a major political milestone for Dalits, especially Dalits who are Christian because:

  • it is a recognition by the judiciary of the widespread caste-based discrimination that persists despite its illegality;
  • it recognizes and recommends political action to address the inequalities and discriminatory practices affecting these people;
  • it recognizes that past political action to end caste-based discrimination has utterly failed.

I pulled a few interesting quotes from the article:

"It is also unfortunately the sad reality the converts from Hindu religion to other religions have carried their caste marks with them whether they belong to higher caste or lower caste.

"The result today is all the religious communities in India except Parsis, have an ingrained caste system prevalent in all spheres of life. We had assembled here to consider the special case of Dalit Christians who were similarly converted from Hindu religion to Christianity and carried with them the same disadvantages and disabilities and they are carrying them even today. They will disappear if at all, only when similar disabilities suffered by Dalits of other religions, namely Hindu, Sikhs and Neo Buddhist, will disappear."

"It is therefore necessary that the Christian Dalits are given the same benefits aids and advantages, facilities and opportunities as are given to Dalits of Hindus, Sikhs and Neo Buddhists on the basis of caste to which they belong before conversion and which they are carrying even today," Justice Sawant, Barrister Sona Khan and the Jury said.

Read the whole article if you have a few minutes. It's very interesting. Leah, chime in if you can with some insight on this. Link: Dalit Christians must get Scheduled Caste rights says the tribunal.

Free the Dalit.

Posted by Amber at 01:59 PM | comments (1)

July 01, 2005

Bunk Beds Needed for Famo and Isha

I had fun making this flyer (and learning Adobe's InDesign at the same time!) I'm making copies of this to distribute around church this Saturday. Clicking on the image opens up a PDF of the flyer. Please feel free to share with friends who might be able to help.

bunk_flyer_no_phone.jpg

Posted by Amber at 01:12 PM

June 30, 2005

What is probably needed...

My time with Ruth and the kids staying in her mother's apartment was meant to help me determine what some of the immediate needs might be. Here's a rough list of the needs so far.

As of today, Ruth will need has a monthly bus pass for July. She expressed this need to me last month as well and to be honest, I don't know how she managed to get one. So it seems like a very important immediate need to me, but I might be missing something and it might get taken care of by someone else. The idea I've had is to talk with Tri-Met or my employer about subsidizing the cost of a pass, in essence sponsoring an annual pass for Ruth. I think that might be a more sensible solution.

Twin bunk beds, of the non-bulky material variety. In the kids' bedroom is a 3-bed bunk bed where the boys sleep. Apparently the 2 girls' bed (beds?) broke. Since the room already has a 3-bed bunk and a kids bed (thanks to Stephanie and Traci), there is a little bit of room (and I mean a very little) left to squeeze in a twin bunk. I don't know if you guys know anyone with a twin bunk bed in their attic or garage that is ideally easy to assemble, but if you do, let me know. I'd like to have these girls off the floor.

Shoes shoes shoes. Kids grow fast. Even though I spent some time sizing the kids feet, they'll grow so fast, my mom mentioned, as any mom would know, that having a variety of sizes of shoes is the best way to go. So if you have boys and girls shoes fitting kids aged 1-10, that would be superb. I will also try and determine from my tracings what current sizes are needed; I'll post those soon as well.

That's a start. There's more, of course. But this is good for starters. I know some of you have been waiting for this list so I wanted to get it up. A huge thanks to those of you who have already donated items. You rock.

Happy compassioning.

Posted by Amber at 11:45 AM

June 29, 2005

Straight Lines Are For Sissies

Before I went to Ruth's house on Monday to deliver the bed, distribute clothes and take a general assessment of the kids' needs as far as bedding, clothes, and shoes, I pictured myself, clipboard in hand, lined paper, methodically and neatly taking down the kids' measurements. What actually occurred was quite a different story, a glimpse of which I've captured in the images you see here: scans of my notes (with helpful contributions from the kids!), to be deciphered, databased, and developed for the use of the generous and compassionate in the near future.

Note: images are not at a true-to-life scale. Also, you may click on a thumbnail to pop up a larger image.

Posted by Amber at 01:40 PM

The Big "C"

I experienced a big "C" evening on Monday. "Huh?" you say? Well, some of you are familiar with naming conventions for the word "church". Believe it or not, there's style guide for the Christian subculture. (Official website: unknown. Any takers?) It is generally accepted that lowercase "church" refers to the local church, as in physical location and attenders. So my church (little "c") is Village Baptist Church (big "C" because of proper nounage; but imagine "Village Baptist church", illustrative of my point.) When used in a non-proper noun sense, the word "Church," capitalized, refers to, literally, the Big Church, the whole, global, universal, "we are all brothers and sisters" Church. This is the Church I experienced in a small, but significant way on Monday evening.

Before I experienced The Big "C", I tried out the little one. That was tolerated by the Big "G" (sorry, I couldn't resist) for approximately 16 minutes.

I sent an e-mail to VBC's (Village Baptist church's) classfieds person at 4:31 pm on Monday. The ad I was placing requested a crib mattress. At 4:47 pm, I received e-mail notifcation of Traci's comment indicating that she had a crib mattress that she would be glad to give. (I've seen immediate answers to prayer in my time, but they never cease to amaze me.)

Earlier that day, my friend Stephanie called to cancel our dinner/hang-out time we had scheduled for that evening. (I now had the evening free.) Her sister was coming over to help her price items for her upcoming yard sale. One of the items she said I could have was a toddler bed, which was of course in want of a crib mattress. I called Stephanie back to let her know I would be around her house that evening after all to get the bed, because now I was going to have a crib mattress to go with it.

Called Mom and Dad's house and left a message: Could I borrow the Explorer to transport the bed? Answer was, of course, "yes."

Talking with Traci, she brought up my proposed method for finding out the kids' sizes. (Ruth lives in an apartment complex and in this apartment complex are several other families from Somalia and lots of kids.) She suggested that I bring some clothes with me for them to try on; that would be a better way of determing what would fit. I called Stephanie to relay the idea. I collected the 3 bags of clothes, a kids bed with a mattress, a scale, measuring tape, a clipboard with paper and pen, and the Explorer from Stephanie's, Traci's, and my parents' houses. I was off to Ruth's apartment.

As I was driving from house to house, collecting the generosity of the Big C (Stephanie, Traci, Dale, Martha) to redistribute to a tiny community in need, it started to rain. Six blocks from Stephanie's house, it downpoured. I stopped in front of her house, stopped the car, opened the door: the rain stopped. I walked up the steps to the covered porch, rang the doorbell, and the downpour resumed. When I brought the mattress out, the rain had paused once again.

At Traci's, the same thing: no rain during loading.

On the way to Ruth's, a giant full rainbow filled the sky.

And at Ruth's, the rain stopped just as I arrived.

The combination of the other big "C", the Creator working in and through the Church that evening in small but significant ways put a smile upon my face. I laughed and laughed with joy at the little things that came together that evening.

He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.

Colossians 1:17, The Message

The thing is, I know Steph and Traci from the little "c", but they don't go there anymore. Now we are connected in more significant way, at the Creator's bidding, as part of the Big C. Combine that with the fact that my relationship with Ruth has nothing to do with a program at little "c" but has everything to do with my membership in the Big C; Monday night truly was a good night for the Church to shine. And all praise goes to the original Big "C", that is the Creator (hey, that's Jesus), for all the good and amazing things came together and were held together that night.

Go Big C.

Posted by Amber at 12:13 PM | comments (2)

About "Ruth"

I've been getting some "who's Ruth?" questions from some of you lately, partly because I've created a little confusion by not using her real name, which some of you know.

"Ruth" is an alias for the woman I'm tutoring in English. I am not using her real name in order to protect her privacy. She is part of a group of refugees from Africa and might be prone to exploitation. You never know who's reading, even though my blog has as very small audience. So I'm just trying to be a little careful.

She is "pre-literate", that is, not literate in her 1st language and so reading and writing has been an entirely new experience for her, at age 23. She was married at age 16 and is now a single mom of one daughter, age 4.

She is a refugee from Somalia, belonging to a people group known as Somali Bantu (or Bantu Somali—I've seen both), who have been enslaved by other dominant groups in Africa for generations. They have been given refugee status and were approved for relocation to the United States. (I'll have to check my documentation for the exact time period; I think around 2 years ago.) Once living in Kenya, now she lives about 7 minutes from my house on the west side of Portland, in Beaverton.

I met Ruth through a volunteer opportunity with a nonprofit community organization called IRCO, Immigration and Refugee Community Organization. I was interviewed by the volunteer coordinator, helped teach one pre-literacy class at their facility in Portland as part of training, and received a manual, a workbook of exercises, and some background articles on the Somali Bantu. I write up a report once a month to the volunteer coordinator. The whole ESL tutoring thing is brand new to me, but it's been a fun and supportive environment and I've enjoyed the challenges.

So that's "Ruth" in a nutshell. If I talk to you in person, I'll use her real name and you can be confused all over again.

Posted by Amber at 11:32 AM

June 17, 2005

Canada Agrees to Reparations for All Residential School Students

From Cultural Survival:

On May 30, the Canadian government signed an agreement with the Assembly of First Nations pledging to pay a lump sum in compensation for former students of Indian residential schools.

The Residential School Political Agreement marks an unprecedented policy shift for Canada. Previously, only former students who were victims of sexual or physical abuses were to receive monetary reparation. Indian activists complained that the earlier plan ignored the damage the schools caused through their suppression of Native languages and cultures.

Posted by Amber at 02:44 PM

April 22, 2005

Behind the scenes of an empire

Took my Borders coupon and went to get Newbigin's An Open Secret: An Introduction to the Theology of Mission (theology of mission = always an exciting topic) but they didn't have it.

"Out-of-print."

What? ;-)

With all the missional (both community- and globally-focused) churches around here with all those crazy ministers with their love of the written word, there's no pent-up demand for Newbigin's classics?!?

[Maybe it's the publication date (revised edition, 1995).] Yeah, I suppose that's what it is.

Foolishness to the Greeks is already on my shelves from college days and Brant said I could borrow The Gospel in Pluralist Society, so I wandered elsewhere and found Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which I purchased straightaway.

Prefacing his confession, the author John Perkins (not this John Perkins) writes:

Admitting to a problem is the first step toward finding a solution. Confessing a sin is the beginning of redemption. Let this book, then, be the start of our salvation. Let it inspire us to new levels of dedication and drive us to realize our dream of balanced and honorable societies.

What adventures in personal/national confession and action will ensue after millions of people read this book, I wonder? Will its bestselleriness be usable to the One who says Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

I wonder.

Posted by Amber at 01:20 PM

April 05, 2005

On taking justice personally

Just read a thoughtful piece on Romero and the Pope that reflects mostly on Romero and the point in Romero's life in which justice became an issue that he could no longer walk away from. Justice moved from academic issue to martyred friend—something not to be intellectually trifled with but engaged on an intense relational and personal level. The author of this article, Mary Jo Leddy, remarks in conclusion that "Until you have a friend who is a refugee, you do not factor in the human cost of war." That is my hope as I move toward building relationships with those in my community who have experienced directly the injustices of war. I know that I treat justice as an intellectual and theological issue. But I think God is moving me toward a more personal relationship with Him as a compassionate and just God. (He is so patient, huh?)

Anyhoo, you may find Romero and John Paul II: Now they see face to face an encouraging read.

Posted by Amber at 02:01 PM

March 24, 2005

March Commuter Reading: Commission on Human Rights, Somali Bantu refugees, Dalits in India

It's time for another edition of Amber's commuter reading list. This edition is inspired by the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights, a new volunteer opportunity that I am starting soon (tutoring students from the Somali Bantu refugee community in Beaverton), and an upcoming presentation I plan to give to work colleagues about my recent trip to India in which I will talk about the situation of the Dalits in India. As I was remarking to my dear friend Leah the other day, "I am excited and hopeful about the future." There's a lot to be done.

From the 61st Session of the Commission on Human Rights, which is going on right now, here are a few reports that I plucked out from the very extensive list of Human Rights Documents (these are all PDFs):

  • Mission to Canada - Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Rodolfo Stavenhagen (Indigenous Issues, Human rights and indigenous issues)
  • Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Timor-Leste (I'm glad I printed this out because at this moment the link is missing from the list of documents of the 61st session...) Contains some interesting observations about problems training judiciary officials because of language barriers created by the establishment of Portuguese as one of the official languages of East Timor. (If they put the link back in, I'll update this post.)
  • Press Kit: 61st Session of the Commission on Human Rights. The introduction contains some interesting background and historical information about the establishment of the Comission. It inspired me to put this book on hold at Central.
  • Fact Sheet No.7/Rev.1, Complaint Procedures. Haven't started this one yet. It's on the list though.

Little rabbit trail: speaking of conflict reporting, I found a few links via this conflict profile on Nagorno-Karabakh from AlertNet:

And now, a more local focus: the Somali Bantu refugee community relocated to my neck of the suburban woods: Beaverton, Oregon.

Finally, I am planning to give a presentation to my work colleagues on my recent trip to India. Since awareness of the Dalits in India is low, if not nonexistent, in my workplace, I thought my audience would find it interesting to learn about the Dalits. To prepare, Leah has sent me several interesting articles written by Joseph D'souza and JJ at Village also gave me Joseph's book and the National Geographic issue with the article, "India's Untouchables".

Reading is good. Doing is better. But knowing how to do the right thing and knowing what exactly needs to be done is even better than that.

Happy. Happy. Joy. Joy. :-)

Posted by Amber at 02:11 PM

March 17, 2005

Statements on human rights issues in Asia

The Asian Legal Resource Centre lists the documents they submitted to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights for the current (61st) session of the Commission. They address a variety of topics including caste-based discrimination, hunger, rule of law (or severe lack thereof), and many others. Here's the link:

Asian Legal Resource Centre: Written Statements - 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights

All other written statements submitted to the U.N. from NGOs regarding human rights situations are found here.


Posted by Amber at 02:04 PM

Save Darfur: 100 Hours of Conscience begins this week

Radical Congruency - 100 Hours // Voices to End the Violence in Darfur - This Week

from tallskinnykiwi to radicalcongruency.com who refers to savedarfur.org:

Please join the Save Darfur Coalition in calling for 100 Hours of Conscience - Voices to End the Violence in Darfur. Beginning with a minute of silence on college campuses across America on March 17th, and continuing over four days, we will be encouraging and supporting events to educate people about Darfur and give them the tools to take action.

We want people to learn more about Darfur and to support one another in acting to resolve the crisis. Groups will tailor their activities to suit their specific resources and backgrounds, but all will learn about the suffering in Darfur, and all will take action for change.

For most events, we ask that individuals write to Congress. We want each member of Congress to receive at least 100 letters from constituents with the message that Americans are appalled by the horrific conditions in Darfur. We ask Congress to call on President Bush to provide the necessary leadership, and to take immediate and decisive action to stop the killing, the rape, and the destruction of villages; to ensure that humanitarian relief reaches all those in need; to hold accountable those responsible for these crimes against humanity; and to ensure the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of the displaced to their homes.

Through our web site, www.savedarfur.org, the Save Darfur Coalition will support a wide range of activities, from individual letter writing to community-wide interfaith events.

We hope that you will participate, and we stand ready with support.

Posted by Amber at 01:05 PM

March 14, 2005

Black Hills woman in Geneva fighting for human rights for indigenous peoples

AP Wire | 03/13/2005 | Black Hills woman overseas fighting for human rights

A Black Hills woman, Charmain White Face, is in Geneva lobbying for the ratification of the Draft Declaration on the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples. According to the article, this draft instrument, if approved on April 11 would go to the UN Economic & Social Council before heading to the UN General Assembly.

Way back in the day...1997-1998 I discovered the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Groups which compelled me to compile some research on the relationship between missionaries and anthropologists, which compelled me to write a little research paper on the missionary responsibility to human rights for my gospel and culture class at Biola. This was back when the International Justice Mission was just getting started.

Currently the UN Commission on Human Rights is in its 61st session. I've been trying to get an XML feed of the recent documents from this session on the side of this site here using the MTGetXML plugin that I use to display my del.icio.us links, but it ain't working for this feed for a reason that currently alludes me. The Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is one of the items up for discussion. That's why this woman mentioned in the article above is in Geneva.

Posted by Amber at 03:33 PM

March 11, 2005

Pray for peace in Northeast India

"After 50 years of bloody guerrilla campaigns, many civilians are tired and desperate for peace." —BBC, October 4, 2004

The BBC's October 4th, 2004 Q&A: India's violent north-east tells a story that could very well be told today as well as back in the Fall of 2004. Violence has once again erupted in Assam this week, one of several states in India located in the space between Bangladesh and Burma, sharing borders with China and Bhutan as well. Imagine the ethnic diversity in a place like that...and all the political divisions...all those boundaries and no view of the sea. Well, conflict abounds in this place. Peace is needed urgently.


A larger view of this map will popup in a little window when you click on the image. This is a Meghalaya District Map [courtesy Maps of India], which shows the town of Guwahati on the Brahmaputra River in the neighboring district of Assam. (The map of Assam that I found didn't show Guwahati, one of the locations of "separatist attacks" on Thursday. I also used this map of Meghalaya district because I know some people who are living in this district, so this place is more personally meaningful. That is, it helps me to relationally connect what is happening in the news with real people, even if they live some distance away. Making this relational connection may help me to intercede more effectively. I don't know if that is true. But I hope anyway.) The BBC Q&A on violence in NE India also has a nice map of the area as well.

Posted by Amber at 11:47 AM

March 10, 2005

Day of Prayer for Burma: March 13

I've never been to Burma. This is no surprise to those of you who know me—that my interest in global issues goes far beyond the few stamps in my passport. I'm just trying to do what I can, which right now, apparently, is get informed and get on my knees. So, I would like to do this one small thing and participate in the Day of Prayer for Burma on March 13 (Sunday). Maybe you will decide to participate as well. If so, here are some prayer requests taken from page 10 of Christians Concerned for Burma's Day of Prayer info doc that you might find helpful, as I do.

Some of the listed requests are:

  • For God's light of truth and love to penetrate every part of Burma.
  • For freedom and lasting peace for the whole of Burma.
  • For justice and the desire within all those in leadership to work for the good of everyone they represent.
  • For relief teams of all ethnic groups to be trained and sent to give help, hope and love to the oppressed. Please pray they will be effective in bringing relief to suffering people of Burma as well as building up understanding, reconciliation and unity between all the peoples of Burma.
  • For friends around the world to stand up for the people of Burma.
  • For the restoration of democracy, ethnic rights and freedom for all political prisoners.

Also, there are some great articles and resources on Burma out there just a Google search away. Here's a couple to get you started:

Happy learning. Happy praying.

Posted by Amber at 03:23 PM

March 08, 2005

Finding Faith in Tijuana

You may find this article interesting, as I did. Malcolm Beith is a general editor at Newsweek International. He describes a recent interaction he had with some nuns in TJ and their mission to provide a home for abandoned and exploited women and children. His perspective on these faith-motivated actions as an agnostic makes his story unique and interesting.

Finding Faith in Tijuana (Global Perspective March 8, 2005)

Posted by Amber at 01:11 PM

March 07, 2005

Investigating Human Rights Abuses in Haiti

Today, a digression from the great subcontinent: in the mail I received an article by Mark Weisbrot of CEPR on the deplorable conditions for people in Haiti. One of Weisbrot's sources was PDF docthis investigative report conducted by The Center for the Study of Human Rights at the University of Miami School of Law, November 11-21, 2004.

Weisbrot's article may be read on CEPR's site:
In Haiti, 'hunger in dark places' is real ... and ignored
U.S. media, rights groups silent on country's torment

Posted by Amber at 04:49 PM

March 03, 2005

Revolutions


This one's a tiny bit of a stretch, in my effort to focus on India. But here's the connection: while I was in India Nepal was all over the news because of the coup. The following extended quote is what I found interesting about this editorial, Choosing between revolutions:

There have been several attempts to provide new leadership. In the past few years, the left and liberal student unions have called for a constituent assembly, defying the more timid parties. The women and Dalit cadre and that from the indigenous nationalities have increasingly challenged the male elite caste's stranglehold over their parties. There is a progressive-minded party cadre waiting in the wings. Now is the time for them to step forward.

Given the serious breakdown of trust between the three political forces—and the very high stakes involved—international mediation may be required to achieve all this. Here India must be very careful. Because of Nepali sensitivities, there is no role at all for unilateral intervention by India. However, complete disengagement will only allow the present crisis to deepen.

Posted by Amber at 10:09 AM

March 02, 2005

D'souza: Caste Divisions Still Asserted in the Midst of Disaster

In Christian Solidarity Worldwide's "Response Magazine," Joseph D'souza writes:

The scale of this tragedy is such that one would hope that India's age old caste divisions could be laid aside in order to help all the victims. Disturbingly, this has not been the case and we have received news that active discrimination has been occurring against Dalits (the 250 million people at the bottom of India's caste system, often referred to as 'untouchables'). One paper reports, "Dalits are not allowed to drink water from tanks put up by UNICEF. Even in relief camps, [upper caste people] don't want to sit with Dalits and have food. Some of them manage to get rice but other relief items...are denied to Dalits."

Read the full editorial here: The Human Tragedy Behind the Natural Disaster, Dr. Joseph D'souza

Interestingly, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a human rights organization focusing on religious freedom. I've just recently come across this organization and realized that at least person associated with CSW has written some articles for Sojourners magazine, one of which I posted back in April 2004. Inspiring and excellent work.

Posted by Amber at 11:02 AM | comments (2)

February 28, 2005

Finished reading...

...A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr.

This was one of the best books I've read. It's a sobering true story of the impact a 1986 environmental health case had on the plaintiffs' primary lawyer and secondarily the other lawyers, families, and witnesses involved in the case. I could barely put the book down until I finished it this weekend.

This morning on the train in to work, I started Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian. I should probably be reading the Final Cut Pro manual instead, as the India report video is due in a few weeks, but I'm in a law-related novel mood, as I'm considering once again whether or not to pursue law school.


Posted by Amber at 11:27 AM | comments (2)

January 07, 2005

Giving smartly to tsunami victims

There exist many legitimate concerns regarding the decision to give money to disaster relief. The disaster is so overwhelming and our bank accounts so underwhelming, it is difficult to decide how and if one can give with any sort of impact.

David Batstone, an editor for Sojourners magazine provides good advice on how to decide whom to give money for tsunami relief. How an organization is positioned to provide emergency relief, reconstruction of critical infrastructure, and contribute to sustainable development in affected disaster areas should be key to any decision to give.

Read How to give smart (and compassionate) aid to tsunami victims, by David Batstone for more insight.

Happy smart/compassionate giving.

Posted by Amber at 05:18 PM

December 30, 2004

The Crises Before the Disaster

The .The urgency of addressing the fiercesome circumstances created by injustice and poverty, toil and disaster is pressing in on the heart of the Church. To demonstrate the truth and love of Jesus to a person before she is faced with death seems to become more critical in the mind and heart of the Church in a week such as this.

But what of the people groups affected by the December 26 earthquake and killer waves? Looking at "yesterday's" news (news from the past year or two) we can see that many people in quake- and tsunami-affected regions were in dire need years before the Indian Ocean pulled back from the shore.

Aceh (pronounced ah CHAY):

  • The Australian: Jakarta rules Aceh off limits [November 15, 2004]: "About 2300 suspected rebels and civilians have been killed in Aceh since Jakarta launched a military crackdown to crush the separatists in May last year, following the collapse of peace talks in Tokyo. The oil and gas-rich province is now operating under civil emergency status, yet thousands of Indonesian troops remain stationed there."

  • Indonesia badmouths international community over Aceh [June 30, 2003]: "On May 19 [2003], Aceh's fragile peace process collapsed, and the Indonesian government declared a state of emergency in the rebellious province.

    "Little over a month later, military operations have resulted in hundreds of deaths, hundreds of arrests, intimidation of government critics, controls on the press, and restrictions on access."

  • VIEWPOINT: Aceh's war centres on resources [July 23, 2003]: "While world attention is focused on the postwar chaos in Iraq, Indonesia has launched an invasion of resource-rich Aceh (pronounced ah CHAY), in the country's biggest military assault since the 1975 invasion of East Timor."

Sri Lanka:

  • CRISIS PROFILE: Sri Lanka grapples with peace process [October 27, 2004]: "Despite a two-year ceasefire, violence and suffering are still a fact of life for many in Sri Lanka. Some 64,000 have died in 20 years of bitter civil war. An uneasy standoff between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels has left the country deeply fractured and the after effects of the war linger.

    "Hundreds of thousands of refugees are unable to return to their homes. Millions of landmines and explosive debris have left large areas of land uninhabitable. Malnutrition is widespread among children in conflict-stricken areas, while boys and girls under 15 continue to be abducted and trained for war.

    "Routine killings and suicide bombings are no longer an everyday occurrence, but they’re still a part of life for many. Nobody wants a return to all out war, but with deep divisions on both sides, a permanent peace seems a long way away."

  • Fact Sheet on Child Soldiers in Sri Lanka [2004]: " The LTTE has used children as soldiers throughout the conflict. In the 1990’s some studies found that 40-60% of LTTE soldiers killed in battle were children under the age of eighteen. Children have also been used as suicide bombers. ...Children are typically 14 or 15 years old when they are recruited, though some are as young as 11. Over 40% of the LTTE's child soldiers are girls."

Please get informed, pray, give, and get going in whatever way you can.

Posted by Amber at 02:07 PM

December 29, 2004

Virtual prayer room created for Asian tsunami crisis

How should we pray for those deeply affected by the Asian tsunami crisis? Head over to Messy Christian's post, Virtual prayer room: Asian tsunami crisis and post your prayers, pictures, or what you think we should pray about. (A wonderful idea for lifting up prayers with one voice and in agreement with on another.)

Posted by Amber at 09:08 AM

December 22, 2004

Of note: symphony commissioned to honor 1945 Nagasaki victims

Excerpt from the Oregonian's Kyr will write a symphony honoring Nagasaki victims:

The symphony is entitled "Ah Nagasaki: Ashes Into Light" and will present four vocal soloists, a chorus that includes children and full orchestra. The work, Kyr's 10th symphony, incorporates Western music, Japanese taiko drumming, and Noh chanting to depict the devastation and to offer a prayer for peace. A brief section of the work will be performed on the 60th anniversary next August. The full work will debut in two years' time, Kyr said.

The text of the symphony is a collaboration between Kyr and Tanahashi, and is written in both English and Japanese. "The entire project is intercultural," Kyr said.

Full article here: Oregonlive.com | Kyr will write a symphony honoring Nagasaki victims

Posted by Amber at 01:33 PM

December 15, 2004

Indigenous politics and Britain

On the subject of the rights of indigenous people groups...

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Quest for Inuit collective land rights


Posted by Amber at 04:22 PM

November 29, 2004

U.S. Landmine Policy

In my LLL post, there were a couple of references to landmine policies and their impact on human beings around the world. I was channel surfing last night and heard a 10 second blurb on the West Wing that happened to be about the U.S.'s policy on landmines and the caveats created by the situation in the DMZ (demilitarized zone on the border of N. and S. Korea). So I thought I'd google U.S landmine policy and korea to see what I could learn.

Top two hits:
U.S. Landmine Policy— U.S. Department of State. This is a relatively new Bush policy dated February 2004

New U.S. Landmine Policy: Questions and Answers— Human Rights Watch. A sort of FAQ on the February '04 policy

It's not a clear cut issue by any means.

Posted by Amber at 11:45 AM

November 28, 2004

Laundry List of Links (LLL)

Tonight's LLL is brought to you by one very good night's sleep, a mid-afternoon nap, and three cups of coffee.

Thought I'd take a moment to post some of the more interesting links I've learned about from various e-mail newsletters I receive on a regular basis...

First up is Goshen College's Advent Devotions. On a technical note, I noticed they're using blosxom to power their content. Kudos to them. I've installed blosxom and played a little bit with it, but I'd really like to look into again for powering "sideblog" type content. It's a very lightweight weblog application and has a very simple interface. But I digress... here's the welcome message to Goshen's Advent devotions:

Goshen College Advent Devotions

Next on the list is last in National Catholic Reporter's Global Perspective Journey's in Theology: Women's Stories. To quote Gemma Tulud Cruz, the author of the article, Faith seeking empowering understanding:

Theology lies not only in the carefully worded propositions of erudite theologians but also in the songs, poems, stories, testimonies and reflections on the day to day struggle of ordinary people by ordinary people themselves. Much of the Filipino contextual theology called "theology of struggle", for instance, is expressed and embedded in these forms.

The diverse, complex, and immense problems we face today impel us to expand our theological imaginations. A theology that inspires hope must learn to speak not just about the metaphysics but the aesthetics of existence. Just as Jesus' story ends not with his death but with his resurrection, theology must insist that the Christian's final experience in God's great economy of salvation is love and life not suffering and death.

Also from Global Perspective, Indian minorities are again anxious, which discusses the anxiety of religious minorities (Christian, Muslim, Buddhist) in India over the BJP's recent change in party leadership and in their public rhetoric, a reiteration of fundamentalist, anti-minority, Hindutva idealogy.

From Human Rights Watch:

From Reuter's AlertNet:

Haven't read all of these, but I'm posting them here as a reminder.

Happy reading.

Posted by Amber at 11:45 PM

November 01, 2004

Africa's Challenge: Moving from "Free Schooling" to "An Education"

This story describes the effect of a new policy which makes primary school free in Kenya (and soon in other sub-Saharan countries). Previously a World Bank loan condition required fees of $16/year, beyond the reach of literally millions of poor families. Now enrollment swells and in some places teacher to student ratios are 111:1.

In Africa, Free Schools Feed a Different Hunger (NY Times)

Hat tip: ERR 11/01/04 (Dean Baker)

Posted by Amber at 01:05 PM

October 26, 2004

HRW's End Caste Discrimination Resources out of date?

I found a collection of resources on caste discrimination on Human Rights Watch's site:

HRW: Campaign Against Caste Discrimination

It looks like it's been a few, if not several years since this information has been updated. I wonder if they would be open to partnering with some friends I know who are well aware of the current situation regarding caste-based discrimination and in particular discrimination against Dalits in India. I also wonder if my friends would be willing to partner with them. This would be a partnership probably limited to the exchange of current and pertinent information and stories about the situation, but a partnership nonetheless.

Another idea and perhaps a more feasible one is to add the kind of resources that HRW provides to a site or section of a site devoted to this area of the world. The type of resources provided could be background information, reports from conferences or symposiums, photo galleries, links to endorsed campaigns, and suggestions to readers for getting involved (donations, letter writing, etc.)

Just a thought.

Posted by Amber at 01:32 PM | comments (1)

October 25, 2004

Girls, Chores, Bicycles, and getting to school in rural India

An Ambitious Dream for a Girl in India: Schooling (washingtonpost.com)

This story describes the challenges of 15-year-old Seema Mahato, a "lower-caste" girl in rural India who struggles to attend school with intense family pressure to share housework and fieldwork duties.

Registration required.

Posted by Amber at 10:26 AM | comments (4)

October 07, 2004

Wow, Sarah

Found this inspiring gem on NetNewsWire: ongoing. I agree, if you have iTunes, stop everything and watch this. (For those without iTunes, go here.)

Ideas, ideas, ideas. Mmmm good.

Wow.

Posted by Amber at 08:45 PM

September 27, 2004

A Continuing Shame

nationalmall.jpg"Native Americans came in great numbers to Washington last week, partly to celebrate, partly to correct a historic injustice. The occasion was the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall - a vivid reminder of the profound cultural and symbolic legacy of America's indigenous peoples. In the background, however, was a continuing lawsuit, whose purpose is to restore to the Indians assets and revenues that are rightfully theirs."

Read the rest of: A Continuing Shame by Editorial Board, New York Times


Posted by Amber at 09:41 AM

September 24, 2004

Indigenous people have enjoyed only small gains in past decade: UN expert

Nothing really new, just an article for my "archives."

Indigenous people have enjoyed only small gains in past decade: UN expert

Posted by Amber at 03:04 PM

September 23, 2004

Outside my window: Rally to Pass the Dream Act

Dream Act Rally outside my window

DSCN4971.JPG

Outside my window (which is, more relevantly, outside Senator Smith's window across the street) Oregon farmworkers and immigrant rights activists are rallying for the Senator's support of the Dream Act. If awareness of the Act was one of PCUN's goals, they certainly succeeded with me. I hadn't heard of the Act until going into the World Trade Center's ground floor Starbucks, outside of which activists were about to begin the march around the WTC, where Senator Smith's office is located. The group of activists are predominately young people, who, according to the PCUN website are part of a larger two-week statewide fast that started in Medford two weeks ago.

There's more info at PCUN - Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United.

The bill number is S. 1545. (Search on THOMAS for Bill Number S 1545 for more info.)

Posted by Amber at 03:58 PM

September 15, 2004

File drawer: Damages awarded in Romero case

Damages awarded in Romero case (National Catholic Reporter, Issue Date: September 17, 2004)

Posted by Amber at 01:37 PM

September 09, 2004

On accountability

An editorial on what should be the implications and relevance of the Romero assassination case, reopened after 24 years: that in a campaigning atmosphere in which debate centers around a contest of "who is the best warrior" and "who can keep belligerents accountable", accountability should rather be directed inwardly, at the United States own record of belligerance and warriorlike behavior.

In our effort to gather the best intelligence on terrorists, might we devote the same or greater effort on examining what we already know about our own involvement in the injustices of the world -- and seek to hold ourselves accountable for our actions. Now there's an idea. That could keep us busy for quite some time. And our national soul would be the better for it.

Read this Editorial: Holding Ourselves Accountable (National Catholic Reporter, Issue Date: September 10, 2004).

Posted by Amber at 02:04 PM

Alvaro Rafael Saravia found liable for Archbishop Oscar Romero's 1980 assassination

Rigoberta Menchú Tum: "Nearly 25 years after Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador, a chance for justice has finally appeared. In a landmark lawsuit, a federal judge in California ruled Friday that a former Salvadoran air force officer now living in the United States must pay $10 million to the family of the late archbishop." Continue reading the article (International Herald Tribune) » IHT: Lawsuit in California: Justice catches up with a Guatemalan murder

Incidentally, if the story of Romero's life and death is unfamiliar to you, I highly recommend the movie, aptly titled, Romero. (Nearby friends or family: I own this movie if you want to borrow it.) I believe I first saw this movie in one of my Intercultural Studies classes at Biola. I think it was a Harold Dollar class. Can't remember which. But seeing that movie triggered a huge turning point in my life. It sparked my interest in human rights and justice related issues and the responsibility of the church to integrate these issues in its gospel witness. This movie isn't for the faint of heart; but, if you're wrestling with how the gospel interfaces with culture and politics, this movie may profoundly impact your soul.

Posted by Amber at 12:55 PM | comments (2)

Alvaro Rafael Saravia found liable for Archbishop Oscar Romero's 1980 assassination

Rigoberta Menchú Tum: "Nearly 25 years after Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass in San Salvador, a chance for justice has finally appeared. In a landmark lawsuit, a federal judge in California ruled Friday that a former Salvadoran air force officer now living in the United States must pay $10 million to the family of the late archbishop." Continue reading the article (International Herald Tribune) » IHT: Lawsuit in California: Justice catches up with a Guatemalan murder

Incidentally, if the story of Romero's life and death is unfamiliar to you, I highly recommend the movie, aptly titled, Romero. (Nearby friends or family: I own this movie if you want to borrow it.) I believe I first saw this movie in one of my Intercultural Studies classes at Biola. I think it was a Harold Dollar class. Can't remember which. But seeing that movie triggered a huge turning point in my life. It sparked my interest in human rights and justice related issues and the responsibility of the church to integrate these issues in its gospel witness. This movie isn't for the faint of heart; but, if you're wrestling with how the gospel interfaces with culture and politics, this movie may profoundly impact your soul.

Posted by Amber at 12:55 PM | comments (2)

September 08, 2004

Flashback: Adbusters Posts Timeline of U.S. Interventions, 1801-2004

This interactive timeline is "an archive of 163 US Interventions, a multi-faceted catalogue of coups, humanitarian incursions, covert actions, proxy armies, freedom fighters/terrorists and multilateral offensives. Out of this legacy, a complex picture emerges." (From the introduction.)

[Flash required] ADBUSTERS : Hope and Memory

Posted by Amber at 09:37 AM

September 07, 2004

Lost in Debate: An International Agreement of Human Rights for Indigenous People Groups

Six years ago last spring I was finishing up two projects to fufill course requirements for my bachelor's degree in Intercultural Studies at Biola University. One was a paper arguing that missionaries have a responsibility toward human rights of indigenous people groups and the other was an annotated bibilography on the same subject - but also encompassing the debate between anthropologists and missionaries on the subject of human rights. Ten years have passed and I have done little to follow up on the subject. I still have all my notes, all my citations, a paper in dire need of a rewrite. One of my primary resources was the Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Groups. I remember I put each article on a note card and practically had them all memorized by the end of it. But when I have gone to reopen my resesarch, I notice a peculiar thing, the Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People Groups doesn't have a "Final" counterpart. After all these years, it's still in "Draft" form.

I'm encouraged to see that this hasn't escaped the notice of Amnesty International. They have issued an action item urging their constituents to write to at least one of four governments in key roles in the debate: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. I will be drafting a letter myself in the coming weeks and will post it here when I have finished it, for anyone who might be interested.

Read the full Amnesty plea (it's not long at all):

Draft UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: No Excuses: International Recognition and Protection of the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples Long Overdue

Posted by Amber at 10:51 AM

Population Growth ?= Healthier Environment

The New York Times > Week in Review > People and Pollution: A Greener Globe, Maybe

(From Dean Baker's Outstanding Stories of the Week list. Subscribe to Economic Reporting Review here.)

Posted by Amber at 10:35 AM

AlertNet: SAT MAP - confirmed damaged and destroyed villages in Darfur

According to this item on AlertNet, "This satellite map shows how USAID is using satellite imagery to map the extent of damage to villages caught in the Sudan conflict."

View the full-sized map here (in PDF format).

Posted by Amber at 10:26 AM

August 24, 2004

Representatives of Latinos Divided on CAFTA

This article describes the differing opinions of various Latino-representing organizations on both the potential merits and the potential pitfalls of CAFTA.

In U.S., Latino Discord Over Trade Accord [login required]

Posted by Amber at 04:43 PM

August 19, 2004

Bush and Kerry Positions on International Trade

Presidential candidate positions on Trade and Economy Dilemmas from the Foreign Policy Association:
Candidate Position Brief #6: Trade and Economy Dilemmas

Posted by Amber at 04:28 PM

August 18, 2004

The AlertNet Challenge

Check out the AlertNet Quiz, "a quick and easy way of reviewing recent humanitarian news and talking points."

Reuters AlertNet - The AlertNet Challenge

Posted by Amber at 11:28 AM

A Welcome Irony: Rwandan Troops to Protect Civilians

Darfur: Rwandan Troops to Protect Civilians (Human Rights Watch, 17-8-2004)

Posted by Amber at 09:26 AM

August 17, 2004

Friends in the White House Come to Coal's Aid

Just wanted to pass along a tidbit from yesterday's Economic Reporting Review (Dean Baker, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research)...

Friends in the White House Come to Coal's Aid
(Christopher Drew and Richard A. Oppel Jr. New York Times, August 9, 2004, Page A1)

This article reports on the close ties between Bush administration officials and the coal industry. The Bush administration has supported the coal industry on a variety of environmental and health and safety issues.

This article reminded me of how important it is to have leaders (and followers) that have integrity and how destructive the consequences are when this is not the case. It also reminded me a myth I used to believe in which it does not matter what one president does or doesn't do because somewhere down the line a policy or legislation will come along that reverses or fixes the harms of "X" policy or legislation. I think I thought this because of (mis)interpreting Schelsinger's cycles of American history that I read about in high school which left me with the (false) impression that everything will eventually balance out (in the political and policymaking realm) and I needn't worry about one man's position because another man will come along with a polar opposite viewpoint and subsequent policy or legislative proposal. This is a falsehood. There are real harms being done. Real people being killed. Real injustices being committed. Real air, water, and soil being poisoned. This article says that:

Although pollutants from coal are among the biggest contributors to acid rain and global warming, coal is also plentiful and secure, with domestic reserves that could last for 230 years.

What is 230 years? How long does it take for a hill from the Appalachians to regain its former glory and beauty? How long does it take for water to be drinkable again? I actually don't know if any amount of time can repair these things. But I am realizing one thing: in 4 years, a White House administration can do damage to people and the Earth that can never be reversed, repaired, recinded.

I am only thankful that there is one King who has compassion on those who are oppressed and mistreated and who has declared authoritatively a reality in which justice and accountability will be reckoned with and the consequences of that reckoning cannot be illuded, avoided, paid off, talked through, compromised or mitigated due to good behavior.

The catch is, this work of justice and accountability has been delegated to we kings and queens as well. We must not falter in our responsibility to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).

Alright, I'm stepping slowly and deliberately off the soap box. ;-)

Happy moral outraging.

Posted by Amber at 12:00 PM

July 15, 2004

Commuter Reading List: Argentina, Tolstoy, and the Corporate Soul

Today's commuter reading list is inspired partially by a grant from chapter one of Dallas Willard's book, The Divine Conspiracy which has been the most timely, inspiring, and refreshing book I have read since yesterday (as I am concurrently reading Richard Foster's Streams of Living Water).

So Mr. Willard says that one of the most important books in two centuries is Tolstoy's Confession ; so, I picked that up at the library at lunch today. Incidentally, there was a concert going on Arts and Music floor (which also houses the books on religion) so after I found it, wandered around the literature section a bit, waiting for a pause in the program, and found a book that I thought Grandma might enjoy while she is recovering at the skilled nursing facility: a book of Christopher Marlowe's poems. Hopefully she'll like it. She's been wanting a book of poems to read.

And yesterday, I picked up David Batstone's book, Saving the Corporate Soul which they also had at the library and as of this morning's commute am finding to be a great read indeed. (Good stories, so far, too.)

But I think the most exciting thing I will read today is the College of Arts and Craft's Fall Course Schedule pamphlet which I picked up at The Real Mother Goose (at the MAX stop which is nearest the library). Would you believe they have a class on Celtic calligraphy on Monday evenings this fall? And the school is just around the corner from my new place. Brilliant. I am very excited. Now to save my dollars for the tuition. Maybe I oughta start charging my clients for web hosting...hmmm...also most brilliant idea.

Also on today's commute, a couple of articles on Argentina and one on Venezuela. Argentina's economic situation is proving very interesting and will probably have far-reaching consequences to countries all over the planet currently indebted to the World Bank and the IMF. (Don't know yet. Have only read the 2002 article. I'm in so much suspense right now!) The Venezuela thing is actually the testimony of Mark Weisbrot (of CEPR) "On the State of Democracy in Venezuela." But the real reason I decided to print it out was <sarcasm> because I was deeply and profoundly intrigued by the name of the subcommittee he was testifying to: "Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs". The PeaceCorps guys are trafficking drugs again, huh? </sarcasm> But I digress.

And finally, today's verse is:

Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

Happy wisdom-gitt'n!

Posted by Amber at 04:56 PM

July 12, 2004

India: Police Probe Attacks on 'Untouchables'

"The Indian government should immediately launch a full investigation into allegations that police used excessive force against Dalits (or “untouchables”) who tried to participate in a religious ceremony in Tamil Nadu last week, Human Rights Watch said today."

From India: Probe Police Attacks on 'Untouchables' (Human Rights Watch, 10-7-2004)

Posted by Amber at 04:16 PM

June 25, 2004

Brand-name Idolatry and the Disconcerting Silence of the Church

From Naomi Klein's Fences and Windows , page 30 (July 2000):

We live in an era of the high commodity fetish, to borrow a phrase from Karl Marx. Soft drink and computer brands play the roles of deities in our culture. They are creating our most powerful iconography, they are the ones building our most utopian monuments, they are the ones articulating our experience back to us: not religions, not intellectuals, not poets, not politicians. They are all on the Nike payroll now.

In response, we are in the midst of the first stages of an organized political campaign to de-fetishize commodities, to say, no, that sneaker is not, in fact, a symbol of rebellion and transcendence. It's a piece of rubber and leather and somebody stitched the two together and I'll tell you how and how much she got paid for it and how many union organizers had to be fired to keep the price down. Commodity de-fetishization is about saying that the Mac computer has nothing to do with Martin Luther King, Jr. but does have to do with an industry bent on building information cartels. [emphasis mine]

This movement toward "de-fetishizing commoditities," is both interesting and condemning to the church today, IMO. First, it is interesting that intensley branded objects are being described as deities, or in Bible-speak, as idols. Second, it is interesting that this declaration is being made from a grass-roots, cultural, in other words "worldly" perspective. What condemns the church is that the voice of the church is largely absent from this collective declaration (though, there are certainly exceptions to this, thankfully.)

What could this mean? Has idolatry gotten so out of control and the church so overwhelmingly silent and impotent that an "Elijah vacuum" has been created? [1] And the church, not being willing to fill it, has handed over its power to others who are rising up as (pseduo-???) prophetic witnesses of a viral-like infection of false deities spreading throughout the world at the current rate of "free trade" proliferation?

Where is apostolic power? Where are the prophets? Where is discernment of the truth and a lie, of master and servant, of wisdom and folly, of misplaced love and affection? Where is spiritual fire, violence, and a battle against a real enemy? I fear that too soon these things will be upon us. And that we will be ill-prepared for it.

Even now, I believe, the battle rages and I find myself with so many others— staring in the screen of a computer for hours at a time, willingly unwittingly consuming precious resources at an alarming rate and remaining all too ignorant and slow to see, to truly witness the signs: what is happening in the world; the effects of our noble causes, campaigns, crusades, and colonies; the pain, hurt, and the destruction that has resulted from the rejection of the Creator, of the God of love, mercy, justice, and truth.

There is a message for a world in such a state as this. There is truth to be spoken, love to be given, justice to be delivered, mercy to be granted and wisdom to be discerned. It has been given. It has come. There is a Word of love, power, healing and truth that has already come and even lived right here on this very planet. How long will we decline comment and refuse to give the world a Word of hope?

But I'm babbling again. Just raving. Just rambling. And yet haunted by the question, when will I give the world the Word of hope? When will I stop regurgitating disturbing news and begin to act and speak on what I see and hear? Or will I, too, be all-too-surprised by what is to come?

[1] I'm making quite a few assumptions in this post. One of them is that, I'm assuming you know who Elijah is (from the Bible) and what he did concerning idols. If not, you can read the story here. If anything else needs clarification, feel free to leave a comment or a question.

Posted by Amber at 01:55 PM

June 23, 2004

Inspiring Interview: Economics, Freedom, and Faith

An inspiring and wonderful interview of Wendell Berry is featured in the latest issue of Sojourners Magazine. The complete interview is online here:

Web Exclusive: Wendell Berry interview complete text, Sojourners Magazine/July 2004

Berry has some facinating remarks about economics and freedom -- facinating especially to a suburbanite consumer such as myself.

Definitely worth a read.

Posted by Amber at 12:39 PM

HRW calls for independent investigation of detainee abuse

U.S.: Released Documents on Torture Not Sufficient (Human Rights Watch, 23-6-2004)

Human Rights Watch also took issue with the statement in President Bush’s Feb. 7, 2002 memorandum to members of his national security team, released yesterday, that "Our values as a nation, values that we share with many nations in the world, call on us to treat detainees humanely, including those who are not legally entitled to such treatment."

"It is incredible that the President is arguing that there is no legal requirement to treat all detainees humanely," said Roth.

The "Legal Requirement":
Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 75 U.N.T.S. 135, entered into force Oct. 21, 1950.

Posted by Amber at 12:28 PM

June 18, 2004

This week's commuter reading list: PHP, Sustainable Economics, The "Emerging Church", and Calligraphy

Here's this week's commuter reading list: articles on the web printed out on the blank side of former printouts for my light-rail commute-home reading pleasure.

And then of course, there's The Illuminated Alphabet: An Inspirational Introduction to Creating Decorative Calligraphy, which I checked out from Central the other day.

I am happy reading.

Posted by Amber at 10:13 AM

June 16, 2004

Donating Dignity for a False Promise

In Antonio D. Sison's article, "For Sale: Third World Kidneys," Sison uses the film Dirty Pretty Things to spark a discussion of human dignity and the cost of justice. Like many underground torrents of injustice (i.e. human slave-trade, prostitution) the black market trade of organs provides yet another false road to freedom for the indigent and destitute at the going rate of "one pound of flesh."

The ethical and philosophical questions that arise from trading organs for supposed freedom or immigration documents are plentiful, but the primary issue in my mind is that of wholeness.

There are many things that will deprive a person of wholeness. Trauma, loss, hurt, wrongdoing, violation, injustice and insidious behavior either given or received will deprive a person of fullness, wholeness, and abundance of life. How much more will a person be be deprived of an abundant life and wholeness of self when one donates a kidney for a passport? The organ donation black market seems to me to be a poignant metaphor of what is lost in our very souls when sin enters in.

So where is the hope for these people and where is our heart, as Christ's body here on earth? Have we donated our heart -- our passion and zeal for God, our feeling and compassion for the poor -- for what what some seem to regard as a free ticket to heaven?

Friends, at what point will we boldly announce the coming of hope and salvation and strive to prepare a people ready for the Lord? As the Church, as Christ's ambassadors, to leave all of this injustice and sacrifice for him to clean up when he returns again is an insult indeed to his Name, isn't it? He has already come once and told us what we need to know. Do we really need to be told twice? Let us not insult God's rule and reign by denying the present existence of his kingdom and his power.

I rant at myself as well as the Church. I am tired and desire to be aroused into consciousness, realizing that the thoughts of leaving behind the violence and injustice that only seems to increase each day is only a dream rooted in falsehood.

We are kingdom people and our king has already staked his claim. He has already come once. He is indeed here with us now as the head of the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. If you think the sounding of some trumpets is going to make the reality of God's kingdom sink into your heart, then go ahead and wait. I, for one, don't want to be caught with no oil in my lampstand.

We cannot call a people to fullness of life in Christ, salvation, and hope if we, the Church have sacrificed our own heart for false promises. Let us return to the feet of God's throne and rest awhile in his presence. Maybe then we will realize, that all else is for naught.

Posted by Amber at 03:25 PM

June 08, 2004

Advertising a Call for Justice to the Arab World

My office-mate passed this along to me: it's a Web site called faithfulamerica.org and they have an ad they would like to put on a prominent Arab television station in which several people of various faiths state:

[Ad transcript:] "A Salaam A'alaykum ["Peace be with you" in Arabic]. As Americans of faith, we express our deep sorrow at abuses committed in Iraqi prisons. We stand in solidarity with all those in Iraq and everywhere who demand justice and human dignity. We condemn the sinful and systemic abuses committed in our name, and pledge to work to right these wrongs."

"This message was endorsed and paid for by thousands of Americans. www.faithfulamerica.org" [Appears on screen at end of ad]. Speakers - Rev. Dr. Don Shriver, Imam Feisal Abdur Rauf, Sister Betty Obal and Rabbi Arthur Waskow.

Definitely an interesting idea. Check it out.

Posted by Amber at 09:53 AM

May 14, 2004

Into the Gap the India Elections Fall

From India News: Voters punished BJP for Gujarat:

Comparing the 2004 election to the one in 1977, which brought opposition parties to the forefront, Rushdie said the "oldest Indian rivalries of all have resurfaced in this election as they also did in 1977.

"Then as now, much of the urban bourgeoisie voted for the government while the impoverished Indian masses, in particular the rural poor, mostly voted against it. The Indian battle for centrality in the debate about the country's future has always been, to some degree, a battle between the city and the village."

In this context, he mentioned how the NDA lost in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu due to its emphasis on a hi-tech economy while neglecting the agrarian sector.

"The gulf between India's rich and poor has never looked wider than it does today, and the government has fallen into that chasm."

Posted by Amber at 04:34 PM

News on Sudan Peace Talks

News on peace talks regarding Sudan (Al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo)...(I copied a few paragraphs below for the skimmers...):

"Non-Muslims are going to be subjected to Sharia law... In the past underprivileged and jobless southerners were the first to suffer from amputation of limbs even though they are not Muslim. That is why we do not want Khartoum to impose Sharia law," Farouk Abu Eissa, the former head of the Cairo-based Arab Lawyers Union and official spokesman for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Abu Eissa stressed that civil liberties and democratic rights cannot be restricted simply to southern Sudan. The people of northern Sudan are entitled to civil liberties, democracy and human rights as well. He said that many political groups in northern Sudan do not accept the concept of a theocratic state with limited civil liberties as propagated by the Sudanese government. "The political and economic reconstruction of Sudan must be founded on a new basis, one which takes into account the multi-religious and multi-ethnic make-up of the country. Civil society groups -- including trade unions, independent professional associations and opposition parties -- must be involved in the peace process. The state of emergency must be lifted," he added.

[...] The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the chief armed opposition group in Darfur, not to be confused with the southern Sudanese-based SPLA, and the other main Darfur armed opposition group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have been battling both government forces and allied Arabised militias known as Janjaweed. The civilian population of Darfur, Sudan's poorest province, has borne the brunt of the fighting. Unlike the secularist and leftist SLA, JEM is a militant Islamist organisation reputedly linked to the Popular National Congress Party (PNC) of the Sudanese Islamist ideologue and former Parliament Speaker Hassan Al-Turabi. The indigenous population of Darfur is, like the rest of northern Sudan, Muslim, but like southern Sudan it is predominantly non-Arabised. Most of the people of Darfur retain their non-Arab identity. They complain that the Janjaweed militias are desecrating their mosques and other places of public worship, as well as cattle rustling, raping, and destroying life and property.

From: Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | End of the tunnel

Hat tip: Google News E-mail Alert: indigenous human rights

Posted by Amber at 01:16 PM

May 13, 2004

CAFTA Signing Date Set

The Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) will apparently be signed on Friday, May 28, 2004.

I am almost positive that this totally sucks.

CAFTA Signing Date Set (High Plains Journal, May 13, 2004)

Posted by Amber at 02:29 PM

Time to learn about Elections in South Asia

As if elections in the U.S. weren't confusing enough, I have to go and figure out what the deal is half-way around the world.

So, if you don't mind, I'll drag you along with my on my quest to de-mystify the issues surrounding recent elections in South Asia, specifically India (although I do have a link here to an article I just received in my inbox about elections in the Philippines which I will include in this post for good measure.)

So most of this India election stuff is from the BBC, which seemed like a pretty reliable source since Britain has been pretty intimately involved with India in the past (seeing as it colonized it for quite some time):

And, finally, a "global perspective" article from the National Catholic Reporter, "Asia Goes to the Polls", which discusses the possible implications of close to 1.2 billion Asians going the polls this year.

(By the way, Oregonians, the Primary election is next week! Don't forget to vote!)

Posted by Amber at 10:43 AM

May 11, 2004

U.S. and others renew concern for Sudan

As a follow up to yesterday's post, here's news about the State Department's recent actions....good news, I hope.

US Expresses Concern Over Violence in Darfur, Speeds Aid Shipments

Posted by Amber at 12:53 PM

1971 Stanford Prison Experiment

In light of recent revelations regarding prison conditions and abuse in Iraq, you may find this web site of interest...
Stanford Prison Experiment

From the web site:
"How we went about testing these questions and what we found may astound you. Our planned two-week investigation into the psychology of prison life had to be ended prematurely after only six days because of what the situation was doing to the college students who participated. In only a few days, our guards became sadistic and our prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress."

Hat tip: VJ.

Posted by Amber at 12:03 PM

May 10, 2004

More on Sudan...but with little change

So you've heard the old riddle, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Usually ensuing after such a question is raised are debates regarding the nature of sound, blah, blah, etcetera, ad nauseum. But I wonder if a similar question could be raised about the atrocities and abuses suffered by the poor and oppressed around the world at the hands of the local claimants of power?

Injustice is the kind of thing that makes your skin crawl if...

  1. you are victim of injustice
  2. you are a witness of injustice by circumstance
  3. you seek to become a witness of injustice through research and inquiry

Hearsay of injustice might make you momentarily uncomfortable (ala, "Man, that sucks...!"), but it really isn't going to change your mind or heart about the matter.

So could a question could be asked, "If a village burns in a remote area of the world and no one but the perpetrators are left to witness it, will justice ever be served?" I know it's not exactly analagous, but the point I'm trying to make is that the reason why it's important to speak out and learn about and know about the injustice in the world isn't to perpetuate depression, sadness, doom and gloom, but to take on a responsibility as image-bearers of God to be engaged witnesses and respond to what we see with love, compassion, mercy, and justice.

By "image-bearers of God," I mean acting a little more like our Creator...aka:

[...] "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6-7)

I prefaced this post with all this because the situation in the Sudan is worsening because the European Union, the U.S. and the U.N. while at varying levels familiar with what is going on in Darfur, are doing very little to bring accountability to an area of the world decreasing rapidly in population in the name of ethnic cleansing. I can think of a number of examples where this kind of inaction led to haunting regret and I am loathe to see it happen again in this situation. But let us not add to the list of the guilty our own government's leaders who knew, but did nothing.

Write to your Congress representative and urge them to do what they can to bring justice to this region of the world.

And, the original reason for this post: a couple of very informative articles to bring you up to speed on the situation in Darfur:

Happy image-bearing!

Posted by Amber at 04:04 PM

May 09, 2004

A history of abuse

I think one of the greatest emotional responses that we posess is that of moral outrage. It is truly a wonderful thing.

Moral outrage exposes a lie. It breaks down a black and white argument that seemed "so clear." Moral outrage stifles complacency. It awakens the sleeper. And for this reason, that's why this blog, "awake," is often written in a tone of "moral outrage" (get it?).

So I find quite a good thing coming out of this very horrible thing of the so-called "discovery" of prisoner abuse at the hands of U.S. military. I say "so-called" because, honestly, do "they" really expect us to believe that we didn't know that people of the U.S. are any different from anyone else in the world in terms of their capacity to spit in the face of God and reject his ways in favor of their own selfish pursuits? (aka "sin")

So while thorougly disgusted and justifiably outraged, along with the "rest of the world" (in quotes, because I'm sure there quite a number of sick %#@&~! out there who are not at all displeased with these acts), I was not at all surprised by it. And neither was Human Rights Watch, as any of you who have been watching the news, have heard.

But if you are surprised, you may want to check out the 46 pages of articles that Human Rights Watch has written on a country not exempt from committing its own fair share of injustice: the United States.

If 46 pages is too much, at least check out the Timeline of Detainee Abuse Allegations and Responses; it's quite informative.

Happy moral outraging. I'm off to a mom's day picnic.

Posted by Amber at 12:38 PM

April 30, 2004

A Balancing Act: Proposed Legislation Could Mean Help for Working Parents

In honor of the two relatively new daddies in my department at work, now in the midst of the great juggling act of caring for a baby, supporting a working wife, and working out child care logistics, I bring this news of a proposed act aptly named, "The Balancing Act."

In the words of the CEPR e-mail I received today from Mayra Murray Diaz of the Center for Economic and Policy Research...

Rep. Lynn Woolsey's "Balancing Act" is a comprehensive bill that helps families balance the demands of professional life with the needs of family. "The Balancing Act" will provide benefits for part-time workers, paid leave for new parents, child care assistance, expansion of Family and Medical Leave Act, voluntary universal pre-school and increased availability of after-school programs.

So I did a little THOMAS search (at THOMAS, search for the word/phrase: "Balancing Act" and in the results click on H.R. 3780) and found some interestintg tidbits.....

Congress finds the following:

  1. Currently in two-thirds of married families with children in the United States, both parents work full-time. Seventy-one percent of mothers with children under age 18 work full-time, and another 29 percent work part-time.
  2. The National Study of the Changing Workforce [Executive Summary, PDF: 6 pgs.] found that 70 percent of employed parents indicated that they don't have enough time with their children.
    1. A survey conducted by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America found that more than half of the respondents indicated that they had little or no time to spend in physical activities with their children.
    2. Parents in 3,500,000 households, representing 7,000,000 children, spend an hour or less a week doing physical activities with their children.
    3. The primary obstacle cited by the parents to engaging in physical activities with their children was their work schedules.
  3. Nearly two-thirds of employees who need to take family or medical leave do not take such leave because they cannot afford to forgo the pay.
  4. Nearly every industrialized nation other than the United States, and most developing nations, provides parents with paid leave for infant care.
  5. In the United States, more than half of all mothers of children under the age of one now work. Yet parents of infants and toddlers face acute problems finding child care, and child care that is available is often of mediocre quality.
  6. The cost of child care averages $4,000 to $6,000 per year in the United States, and families with younger children or with more than one child face even greater costs. For example, the average annual cost of child care for a 4-year-old in an urban area center is more than the average annual cost of public college tuition in all but one State.
  7. The average annual child care teacher salary is $15,430, a wage so low that many programs find it extremely challenging to recruit fully qualified teachers and to retain them. High turnover rates make it more difficult to provide quality and continuity of care.
  8. Only 12 percent of eligible children receive child care assistance through the Child Care Development Block Grant, and only about 3 out of 5 eligible preschoolers are able to participate in the Head Start program.
  9. Among needy students, school nutrition programs often provide the primary opportunity for consumption of nutritionally valuable foods.
  10. Breakfast is a critical meal for children and provides the nutrition necessary to optimize their learning capacities.
  11. According to the Bureau of the Census, nearly 7,000,000 children in the United States are left alone after school each week without adult supervision or structured activities of any kind.
  12. Violent juvenile crime peaks between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and teens are more likely to be victims of serious violent crime in the hour after school lets out than any other time of the day.
  13. The Nation's communities can benefit from teleworking, which give workers more time to spend at home with their families.
  14. Companies with telework programs have found that telework can boost employee productivity 5 percent to 20 percent, thereby saving businesses valuable resources and time.
  15. More United States families are working more hours than ever. In 2000, the average American worker worked 36 hours more, almost a full week, than in 1990. A recent AFL-CIO poll found that nearly three-quarters of working adults indicated that they have little or no control over their work schedules.
  16. The AFL-CIO's 'Ask a Working Woman' survey for 2002 reported that 63 percent of working women work more than 40 hours a week, 30 percent of working women work 20 to 39 hours a week, and 7 percent of working women work less than 20 hours a week.

In essence, the bill seeks to amend and enhance the Family Leave and Medical Act by, for one, providing assistance for parents to effectively care for their children and support their families financially.

If the bill passes (I have no idea what the status is at this point...), it looks like good news for working families.

Posted by Amber at 04:52 PM

A Commuter's Reading List: U.S-Latin America Economic Relationship

Wanted to grab a few articles off the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) regarding U.S. economic policy toward Latin America...I'm especially interested in learning more about the impacts of NAFTA, the debate surrounding the proposed CAFTA and the IMF and World Bank involvement in all of this. I know very little about the whole mess but it does seem to fall under the broad category of "Justice" because it certainly appears that these economic policies are having great negative impacts on the poor in these countries which neighbor the U.S. (Hmmm....something about love and neighbors comes to mind....)

[Note to self: These are probably best read after a full cup of coffee.]

Posted by Amber at 01:23 PM

April 28, 2004

Taking it to the Bank (and the IMF)

I wanted to pass along this recent commentary on the World Bank and IMF which also reports on the protest that happened there last weekend apparently. Good stuff. Sock it to 'em. (Also if you are a regular street protester and are experiencing protesters-block, there's some great ideas for skits and other ideas to create dramatic effect. Successful protesting is all about being the human political cartoon, I think. Not that I have any idea about these things.)

Ok, time to wrap this up...here you go:
SojoNet: Faith, Politics, and Culture

Happy vicarious protesting. =)

Posted by Amber at 10:50 PM

April 26, 2004

Web, Audio Series on NPR Documents Mandela's Story

Found this, oddly enough, on Google News......something to file away for future reading.....

NPR: "Mandela: An Audio History"

Posted by Amber at 02:14 PM

Now it's time to learn about CAFTA...

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to protest another free trade agreement brought about by one-sided negotiations catering to the interests of large markets and corporations (read: rich people in the U.S.) at the expense of the poor.

In this case the poor practically guaranteed to be utterly screwed by this agreement (if it passes in Congress) are the people in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, most of whom are economically dependent on agriculture.

So for those of you who would like to just cut-to-the-chase and fire off a letter of protest to your local Congress-person, go here:

Take Action: Speak out for the people of Central America!

And for those of you who'd like to do a *little* reading on the subject, you're not alone. This was actually the first time I'd heard of CAFTA, so after a bit of Googling, I scared up a few readable articles for our mutual edification. :-) And in the spirit of free trade agreements intitated by the United States, they are all decidedly one-sided; however, unlike the free trade agreements currently in effect, they do not cater to the interests of the powerful and rich (who should know better than exploiting the poor: shame on you/us!)

Why the Stakes Are So High for Trade Talks

CAFTA Not Likely to Do Better Than NAFTA

Happy protesting.

Posted by Amber at 12:44 PM

April 23, 2004

Today, in Sudan...

Received news of the continuing atrocities occuring in Sudan today through a Human Rights Watch appeal for support...

Sudan: Government and Militias Conspire in Darfur Killings (Human Rights Watch, 23-4-2004)

Posted by Amber at 02:58 PM

Truth is still one big "pillar of cloud"

I learned something interesting this morning. Truth and justice are cloudier issues than I thought. I guess I should have known. God did reveal himself as a "pillar of cloud" to the Isrealites on their journey through the desert, after all.

In a culture of the sovereignty of individual opinions, an increasingly free, open, and universal press (thanks to the web), and the persistance of nation-states, nationalism, and good old fashioned state-sponsored obfuscation of the truth, I find the line between truth and deception, hero or villain, right or wrong, to be increasingly difficult to draw.

With the very real possibility for all the facts to be gathered, all the truth revealed, I see an attitude of complacency to gather these facts, to reveal the truth, prevailing. This complacency only contributes to the surreptitious behavior of those who would "policy-make" their way out of testimony to the truth.

So even though we live in a world with incredible access to information, we have yet to see a world able to discern the credibility of this information.

Am I any better? I'm myself only a small voice that is maybe a just a little more than half-heartedly seeking to reveal the truth.

But I will say this: onward the explorers, the seekers, the ones who would embark on a journey to find the truth, to see it revealed before their eyes, to know, to believe and to gain something that they did not know they were looking for: a love that cannot be described in words, though it seems right to describe it as the deepest, widest, most amazing love they have ever experienced.

Today's journey takes us to the crazy mixed-up state of Israel. Both a favorite and a despised topic to "discuss" for a wide variety of people, today's story is one of a tiny bit of historical perspective coupled with the latest reports of an event that happened just the other day: the strictly conditioned release of Mordechai Vanunu from an 18-year prison sentence for his 1986 revelation of Israel's "not-so-ambiguous-after-all" capacity for developing WMD's via the Dimona nuclear power plant in the Negev desert.

Here's the oh-so-tiny bit of historical perspective: Past references to Vanunu in Sojourners Magazine:

And...some selected recent coverage on Vanunu's release from the BBC (UK):

Thanks to Shawn for the BBC article on Vanunu that sent me on today's journey.

Happy exploring.

Posted by Amber at 11:35 AM

April 22, 2004

Theology, Film, and a "New" Category: Third Cinema

(Well, new to me at least.)

Just came across these two brief articles from the National Catholic Reporter written by a doctoral student researching systematic theology and "Third Cinema" (which he describes in one of the articles I've highlighted here.)

Ok, I'm intrigued.

In the article I read first, "An earth-friendly film festival," Antonio gives us a run-down of some of the films screened at a festival in the Netherlands.

This film festival was unique because it sought to draw attention to oil extraction and mining activities in the developing world and how those activities have impacted the environment and the human beings living in the midst of this "development."

(I wonder if these films are available anywhere in my neighborhood?....neighborhood=Internet....hmmmm....)

So after reading this review, I thought to myself, "What is this concept of Third Cinema, anyway?"

Luckily for me, at the bottom of the article, there was a link that serendiptitiously stated:

For more on the concept of Third Cinema, see "Third Cinema and the God of the Edge," Global Perspective, Nov. 19, 2003.

So I did. And so I also recommend it to you.

Happy learning.

Posted by Amber at 03:01 PM

April 21, 2004

Foreclosing on the American Dream

Why Rent?

To avoid foreclosure for one thing.

This New York Times article, published April 11, 2004, reports on the political motives, governmental and corporate pressure, and deceptive ad campaigns resulting from a White House push for homeownership which targets first-time and minority buyers.

What has been the result of this push for homeonwership?

Foreclosures. Lots of 'em.

This article is definitely an eye-opener...especially for those young renters out there (me, for example) getting pressure from all sides to get a mortgage while the gettin' is good.

A Home Too Far: Blue Skies and Green Yards, All Lost to Red Ink

Noted by Economic Reporting Review as an "Outstanding Story of the Week."

Posted by Amber at 04:55 PM

Time to learn about Burma, OK?

Just wanted to get these articles and links posted for when I get a chance to get caught up on some human rights related reading....

Christians in Burma: 'We feel we are known by no one'

Thanks, SojoMail

Posted by Amber at 02:26 PM

April 09, 2004

Better run for the border

Here's a rundown on all the mayhem and democratic chaos happening with our neighbors to the south:

"The United States Doesn't Know Its 'Back Porch' is on Fire" (Global Perspective: April 8, 2004)

Posted by Amber at 04:19 PM

From one "Ms." to another

An Open Letter from Ms. in Support of Martha Stewart

Posted by Amber at 03:47 PM

April 05, 2004

Bending Toward Justice: The Unfinished Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education

Check out this April 2004 American School Board Journal Special Report, Bending Toward Justice: The Unfinished Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education.

There are numerous articles that reflect on "what has been accomplished and what remains undone in the quest for true and lasting educational opportunity for all." From "The Ruling that Changed America":

At the beginning of the 21st century, American schools are now 12 years into the process of continuous resegregation.

Posted by Amber at 09:47 AM

April 02, 2004

Ghosts of Rwanda

frontline: ghosts of rwanda | PBS

Posted by Amber at 10:40 AM

March 18, 2004

This week's SojoMail...

Some good stuff in this week's SojoMail. Check it out: SojoMail (March 18, 2004)

Posted by Amber at 02:40 PM

"This is the United States government we are talking about..."

"Any suggestion that the most powerful country in the world cannot make good on its fiduciary duty to Individual Indian Trust beneficiaries should be viewed as the sham that it is—a thinly veiled attempt to punish trust beneficiaries and turn public opinion against proper accounting and distribution of trust funds monies." Full release here: Why Individual Indian Trust Checks Should Not Be Disrupted

I really like that quote. Those lawyers for the plaintiffs at Cobell v. Norton don't pull any punches. =) I wonder if they're having Chris Carter or any of the writers from the X-Files write press releases for them. (See this post.) Oh wait, this isn't fiction. This is actually happening. The United States government (and in this case we're talking about the Department of the Interior, headed by Secretary Gale Norton) has been actively engaged in being the most distrustful, deceptive, and irresponsible fiduciary manager in the history of the United States.

For those of you who unfamiliar with this case, here's a brief excerpt from the Cobell v. Norton Web site:

Cobell v. Norton is a class-action lawsuit filed on June 10, 1996, in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to force the federal government to account for billions of dollars belonging to approximately 500,000 American Indians and their heirs, and held in trust since the late 19th century.

Through document discovery and courtroom testimony, the case has revealed mismanagement, ineptness, dishonesty and delay by federal officials, leading U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to declare their conduct "fiscal and governmental irresponsibility in its purest form."

Read more about the case at indiantrust.com

Posted by Amber at 11:36 AM

March 16, 2004

Local teacher helps reshape NCLB

Local teacher helps reshape No Child Left Behind Act - March 16, 2004

Posted by Amber at 12:36 PM

March 09, 2004

All of your perceptions are belong to us

Taking a trip -- even a relatively short trip -- to a country like India (for example) really gives a person perspective. A person like me (for example).

One thing I've become even more acutely aware of is the "hijack routine" the media and the ruling administration pulls on the local presses. What I'd like to know is, who makes up the schedule that determines which cause, person, politcal party or reality TV show gets the limelight at any given time? And where are they getting the information that informs their decision?

Take for example this issue of licensing gay civil unions. What happened here? I admit, I didn't read the paper much while I was away, but why is this (and anything even remotely related to gays, homosexuality, marriage, religion, "sacred unions" or any combination of the above) all of sudden crowding the local press stage? Why is the religious right even wasting it's time on this? So that they can demonstrate their uncanny ability to color anything black and white? Or maybe it's to show off their genius communication strategy that practically guarantees that what they have to say will be misperceived by just about anyone who listens. (Not that I have a strong opionion on this.) If Oregon wants to license gay civil unions and further increase the state's divorce rate, fine. But it seems to me like a waste of resources.

Right now in this state, there are three very boring, very "blah," very unsensational, very downright pathetic issues plaguing our population: hunger, poverty, and education. We are the hungriest state in the country. Did you know that? [See notes 1, 2, 3 at the bottom of this entry.] Poverty in Oregon is largely unseen because most of the poor in Oregon are the working poor. [4, 5] And education? You have to have lived under a rock the past 10 years not to see how Oregon's education system has plummeted (much to the chagrin of the teachers, students, parents, community members, and many others!)

Now some may feel that the debate surrounding "gay marriages" is centered around a question of morality and religious values. On the other hand, issues in the arenas of poverty, hunger, and education are in fact "social questions" that really have no moral or religious implications. So to compare them or to pit them against each other as I am doing is really just presenting a false alternative. And, in fact, (you might be thinking) "we must, we must object strenuously to licenscing gay marriages" because of the moral implications.

I beg to differ. And I'm not alone.

A group of "likely voters" and a mix of Republicans and Democrats were asked, "The question of values is sure to be important to many voters this November. As you decide your vote for president of the United States, which of the following would be more important to you: hearing a candidate's position on gay marriage or hearing a candidate's plan for fighting poverty?"

The results? 78% of respondants indicated they would rather hear a candidate's plan for fighting poverty as opposed to the 15% who would rather hear a candidate's position on gay marriage. [6]

Maybe you've been blocking out all the debate, hoopla, and news media craziness surrounding the "gay marriage debate." Maybe you've heard enough. Maybe you're sick of it and really don't want to hear another word about it. Maybe you couldn't care less. Maybe you would just like everyone to just shut up about it, thank you very much. Yes, you would be very happy about that.

So let me ask you this: What do think should take its place in the limelight? If you were Big Brother out there devising the limelight schedule...if you could decide what the local media reported on the evening news...what would be worthy of your attention? Would ending hunger in Oregon be a worthy enough cause for you? What about ending poverty? Or how about improving education for students and teachers state-wide? Or upon hearing about these things, would you think to yourself, or remark to your buddy over coffee, "I've heard enough."

I trust this is not the case with you. With that trust in mind, I've pasted in a few links referenced in this entry that you might find useful in your (newfound?) journey control the headlines (in your mind, at any rate).

[1] Why does Oregon have the highest rate of hunger in America? (PDF)

[2] Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force

[3] Food Insecurity and Hunger in Oregon: A New Look (PDF)

[4] Working poor dominate poverty rolls

[5] A Portrait of Poverty in Oregon

[6] Values and the 2004 election

Posted by Amber at 09:28 AM

January 26, 2004

World Social Forum Causes Progressive Indian-Americans to Surface

AlterNet: Out Of the Melting Pot

Since I'll be leaving for India in just a couple of days, I thought I'd hunt around for some relatively recent news regarding the sub-continent. Apparently the World Social Forum is/was meeting in Mumbai (my 3rd layover locale) and this article kind of serves as a small introduction to social justice issues in India, if you choose to follow the links. And I encourage you to do so.

Although I will be busy posted updates to the group's Web site, I will try and keep a daily journal here as well while I'm "in-country." So stay tuned!

Posted by Amber at 04:15 PM

January 14, 2004

Reconstruction: The Second Civil War

I caught most of this documentary on PBS after I got home last night. I guess there's an "American Experience" series that PBS hosts and this was a special on the Reconstruction period, the 14 years or so following the civil war, 1863-1877. It was a very interesting look at the Reconstruction.

I was left with a distinctly different impression of that time period than I remember having when I learned about it in history classes in school. And the funny thing about that old impression I had, was that it was not an uncommon impression at all. In fact, the widespread notion that Reconstruction was a big mistake, that African-Americans weren't ready for their newfound freedom was a feeling that was generated deliberately by the politics of the day and even decades later as people sought to even reconstruct the actual history of the Reconstruction. As pointed out in this documentary, the Reconstruction was a relatively short period of time which birthed the first civil rights legislation that America had known. This first civil rights legislative movement was confronted by domestic terrorism, vigilante violence, public calls for assassinations, and the repeal of any civil rights legislation that had been entered into law in that decade following the Civil War. It would be another 100 years in what was actually the second Civil Rights movement for any civil rights legislation to stick in the law books and actually see enforcement in all the States.

It looks like it was only showing for 2 days but they (of course) have a companion Web site set up for the special and I encourage you to take a look.

American Experience | Reconstruction: The Second Civil War | PBS

Happy learning!

Posted by Amber at 10:20 AM

January 13, 2004

Fuzzy logic and the war on terror

It's been a couple weeks since my last post, so though things are busy with preparations for my trip to India at the end of the month, I wanted to take some time to find a "blogworthy" piece for this week. I found a couple things. First, this article from The Guardian reporting on a academic publication presented to the White House yesterday which characterizes the parameters of the war on terror as "frustratingly unclear."

Here is the Guardian article:
Bush besieged by war college

...and I also located the actual report by Jeffery Record, posted on the Strategic Studies Institute Web site. (Also, here is the report in PDF format.)

Happy reading.

Posted by Amber at 04:30 PM

Migratory Purgatory

I came across a couple pieces relating to illegal migrants and illegal immigrants. One is a commentary from Sojourners Magazine, the other a news piece from the BBC.

These articles remind me of the National Geographic piece a few months ago on present-day slavery and human trafficking around the world (which often directly targets migrant and immigrant individuals who are "in-transit.")

arch_sept.jpgLet me see if I can find it...ah yes, here it is: 21st-Century Slaves, by Andrew Cockburn. Photographs by Jodi Cobb. I highly recommend this article. I recommend finding a hard copy of the September 2003 National Geographic (the one with Zebras! on the cover...it's in that issue). I'm sure someone you know has it lying around.

Posted by Amber at 04:24 PM

December 30, 2003

On the sneakiness of injustice...

I'm not at all up on my Serbian history—political or otherwise—but this bit of news concerns me:
Milosevic wins seat in Serbian Parliment (The Globe and Mail, 12/29/2003)

So, in an effort to repent of my ignorance of the injustices that have taken place in the former country of Yugoslavia, here are a few interesting primary sources of information:


Click to view enlarged image Also, I stumbled across this Web site (which led me to the video and trial archives above), B92 which describes itself as:

"...a multi-faceted media house at the very forefront of the transformation of post-Milosevic Yugoslavia’s cultural life. In our 12-year history, we have grown from our tentative origins as a student radio station to become an umbrella association comprising over 250 staff in the fields of television, radio, internet, music, film and publishing. Along the way we have pioneered the use of the internet as a means of bypassing media repression; won global acclaim for our part in the downfall of a corrupt and violent regime; and nurtured a thriving creative scene in Yugoslavia."

Finally, here's a nice presentation done by BBC on the changing shape of Yugoslavia in the last century. Contains a timeline highlighting the years of 1900, 1913, 1920, 1941, 1945, 1992, 1995, 1999, and 2003.

Oh, and let us be keeping on eye on this sneaky Hitler wanna-be: Vojislav Seselj.

Posted by Amber at 01:49 PM | comments (1)

December 29, 2003

God and Politics

Just received notification of an Op-Ed piece that Jim Wallis of Sojourners wrote in yesterday's NY Times. Here is the NY Times link:

Op-Ed: Putting God Back in Politics (registration required...I registered as a male doctor making over 150 grand per year, tee hee hee)

Basically Mr. Wallis feels that Republicans and Democrats should quit focusing on narrowing the acceptable set of debatable "religious" topics and begin to boldly address issues of economic security, health care, educational opportunity, poverty, war and peace in terms of moral responsibility implied by true faith. According to Wallis,

God is always personal, but never private. The Democrats are wrong to restrict religion to the private sphere — just as the Republicans are wrong to define it solely in terms of individual moral choices and sexual ethics. Allowing the right to decide what is a religious issue would be both a moral and political tragedy.

I generally agree with Wallis, and this is no exception. The intersection between faith and politics continues to be confused and passionately muddled by Democrats and Republicans alike. Whether it's the logically sickening false alternatives presented in the abortion debate, the over-simplification and oft misunderstood statement, "the separation of church and state," or the always amusing and yet confusing propagation of civil religion in nearly every corner of American political expression...whenever politics intersect religion, almost without fail come cognitive-dissonance-related headaches.

By continuing to narrow the list of acceptable topics that are supposedly affected by or influenced by faith, political leaders will continue to frustrate American people that know, at the very least at an intuitive level, that a worldview that insists upon fragmenting life into manageable "topics" or "issues" that do not or should not affect one another is not consistent with reality. Those leaders who insist upon promoting a fragmented world will continue to isolate themselves from those with whom they would desire to have an attentive audience.

Whether it's a foreign policy that would have the unprecedented growth of an increasingly unaccountable empire, wars justified by half-truths and color-coded domestic intimidation, or the state of hunger, poverty, and lack of economic security right here in the homeland, those who would desire to lead the American people have got some 'splainin' to do...and these muddled issues, in my opinion, could be clarified when cast in the right light. And that right light just might have something to do with God. Imagine that.

Posted by Amber at 02:50 PM

December 24, 2003

Christmas in the trenches

Read this:

Source: Sojourners 2003 (c) http://www.sojo.net

"Silent Night," by Stanley Weintraub, is the story of Christmas Eve 1914 on the World War I battlefield in Flanders. As the German, British, and French troops facing each other were settling in for the night, a young German soldier began to sing "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht." Others joined in. When they had finished, the British and French responded with other Christmas carols.

Eventually, the men from both sides left their trenches and met in the middle. They shook hands, exchanged gifts, and shared pictures of their families. Informal soccer games began in what had been "no-man's-land." And a joint service was held to bury the dead of both sides.

The generals, of course, were not pleased with these events. Men who have come to know each other's names and seen each other's families are much less likely to want to kill each other. War seems to require a nameless, faceless "enemy."

So, following that magical night the men on both sides spent a few days simply firing aimlessly into the sky. Then the war was back in earnest and continued for three more bloody years. Yet the story of that Christmas Eve lingered - a night when the angels really did sing of peace on earth.

Folksinger John McCutcheon wrote a song about that night in Belgium, titled "Christmas in the Trenches," from the viewpoint of a young British solder. Several poignant verses are:

"The next they sang was "Stille Nacht," "Tis 'Silent Night'," says I.
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky
"There's someone coming towards us!" the front line sentry cried

All sights were fixed on one lone figure coming from their side
His truce flag, like a Christmas star, shone on that plain so bright
As he bravely strode unarmed into the night.

Soon one by one on either side walked into No Man's land
With neither gun nor bayonet we met there hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well
And in a flare-lit soccer game we gave 'em hell.
We traded chocolates, cigarettes, and photographs from home
These sons and fathers far away from families of their own
Young Sanders played his squeeze box and they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men.

Soon daylight stole upon us and France was France once more
With sad farewells we each began to settle back to war
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wondrous night
"Whose family have I fixed within my sights?"
'Twas Christmas in the trenches, where the frost so bitter hung
The frozen fields of France were warmed as songs of peace were sung
For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone for evermore."

My prayer for the New Year is for a nation and world where people can come out of their trenches and together sing their hopes for peace. We here at Sojourners will carry on that mission, and we invite you to continue on the journey with us.

Blessings to you and your families. —Jim Wallis

Posted by Amber at 09:50 AM

December 18, 2003

Aragorn for President

Borrowed this from this morning's installment of Sojomail....

26m.jpg

"Everyone thinks [Aragorn] is the man for the job, because he has humility, a concern with the consequences of his actions and words on others, and an interest in finding common ground with other people. All are qualities which I wish there were more of in real life in our modern-day leaders. There's an unfortunate lack of humility and overabundance of arrogance."

— Viggo Mortensen, frequent critic of the Bush administration and actor playing Aragorn in the film versions of J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Source: Associated Press

Posted by Amber at 10:04 AM

December 17, 2003

Case Study: The Montréal Massacre

Well I wasn't looking for these in particular, but here is another article on violence against women. This one is an article on the 1989 event in which...

On the evening of December 6, 1989, shortly after 5 o'clock on the penultimate day of classes before the Christmas holidays, Lépine carried a concealed Sturm Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle into the École Polytechnique. His first female victim, Maryse Laganiere, was killed in a corridor. He then proceeded to Room 303, a classroom which held 10 women students and 48 men, along with a male professor. Firing two shots into the ceiling and shouting, "I want the women. I hate feminists!," Lépine enacted a gendercidal ritual that will be familiar to readers of other case-studies on this site (Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia) — only this time, the victims were female. Separating the men from the women, he expelled the men at gunpoint, lined up the remaining women students against the wall, and began to fire. Six women died; the others were injured, but survived.

Read the entire article here. Case Study: The Montreal Massacre

Posted by Amber at 02:38 PM

"On the assumption and acceptance of atrocity" or "Failing at Liberation"

A sobering account of the barriers to freedom and life that women in Iraq face, this story demonstrates that liberation, freedom, and salvation cannot come from the law — whether new or old, domestic or foreign, religious or secular. Indeed, reading this story causes me to more fervently hope, pray, and prepare for the transformation of hearts and minds and nations, a new heaven and a new earth, and the return of the King. (No, silly, not that one.)

So, if you have a few minutes, I do encourage you to read this article. It's on AlterNet's site:

So This Is Liberation?

Posted by Amber at 01:43 PM

December 03, 2003

To President Bush: How About that Global AIDS Crisis?

Take Action: Stop Global AIDS

Posted by Amber at 01:50 PM

On Jesus and the "new" leprosy

That there's a force of love and logic behind the universe is overwhelming to start with, if you believe it," Bono told the Chicago Sun-Times as he road past mown corn fields west of Omaha. "But the idea that that same love and logic would choose to describe itself as a baby born in s--- and straw and poverty, is genius. And brings me to my knees, literally.

Christ's example is being demeaned by the church if they ignore the new leprosy, which is AIDS. The church is the sleeping giant here. If it wakes up to what's really going on in the rest of the world, it has a real role to play. If it doesn't, it will be irrelevant.

— Bono, as quoted in Bono issues blunt message for Christians (Chicago Sun-Times)

Posted by Amber at 01:43 PM

November 20, 2003

Reading: Naomi Klein

I hope to soon acquire Naomi Klein's book, No Logo; but, for now I'll settle for catching up on her column at the Guardian.

Here's her latest from Nov. 7, 2003:
Iraq is not America's to sell

Posted by Amber at 12:23 PM

November 19, 2003

Nationalism, War, Foreign Policy and a Silent Church

At last week's CCDA conference, Rev. Craig Wong delivered a message and a prayer of repentance for the "Church's tacit acceptance of our bellicose foreign policy" which has revealed a "compromised gospel that has reduced the American church to nothing more than a state chaplain, good for religious services but impotent in prophetic witness."

Craig's remarks were so encouraging to me and I thought they might be encouraging to you as well, especially if you find yourself asking, where is the voice of the Church in all of this reckless nationalism, war, and foreign policy carried out by the U.S. administration largely on supposedly moral grounds? So I e-mailed Craig and asked if he had his remarks anywhere online and he graciously sent me a PDF.

So here it is, "A Prayer for the Church in the Shadow of Empire." [pdf]

Posted by Amber at 08:19 PM

Mix it up stories

November 2003 -- Check out Mix It Up reports and press accounts about how more than 400,000 teens participated in Mix It Up at Lunch Day across the country.
Mix It Up Stories

Posted by Amber at 11:09 AM

Stop the wall

From Sojourner's weekly e-mail November 12, 2003:

In June 2002, Israel began building a massive wall through Palestine's West Bank, a wall designed to physically separate Palestinians and Israelis from one another. Called a "security barrier" by the Israeli military, the Wall is part of the largest land grab Israel has launched since it occupied the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in 1967. The wall is dividing Palestinian cities, towns and villages, trapping Palestinians in open-air prisons reminiscent of apartheid South Africa and depriving them of access to their livelihoods, markets, hospitals, and schools. When completed, the wall will in effect annex nearly 50% of the West Bank to Israel.

This week has been declared an international week of action against the wall. Learn more about this campaign at: http://stopthewall.org

Read Ed Spivey Jr.'s article about the wall in the November-December issue of Sojourners: http://go.sojo.net/ct/k11PXaM1Ra1u/

Posted by Amber at 11:02 AM

Register to vote already!

If you're not registered to vote, I urge you to get on it and register through this link: Register, Pray, Vote. Sojourner's says, "Your registration through our special link to our partner site helps support Sojourners through a special grant. By demonstrating our effectiveness at recruiting new voters - regardless of their party affiliation - we increase our chances to receive greater funding. ..."

The religious right votes...do you?

Posted by Amber at 10:55 AM

Close The School of the Americas

From an action alert sent by the folks at Sojourners...

The U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers located at Fort Benning, Georgia. SOA graduates have been responsible for some of the worst human rights atrocities in Latin American history. Notorious graduates include:

  • 3 of the 5 officers responsible for the rape and murder of four U.S. churchwomen in 1980

  • 2 of the 3 officers responsible for the assassination of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero that same year

  • 19 of 26 responsible for the massacre of 6 Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter in 1989

  • the man convicted in Guatemalan courts for the assassination of Guatemalan Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi in 1998

  • the man arrested for the murder of Colombian Bishop Isaias Duarte in 2002

Take Action: Close the School of the Americas

Posted by Amber at 10:07 AM

November 18, 2003

Supporting Fair Trade...

Here's a page on the Fair Trade Resource Network Web site that describes how you can render your support. Timely, I think, as we are approaching the consumer glutton fest of the year. Personally, I am challenged to make at least 5% of my gift giving in support of fair trade.

Support the Fair Trade Resource Network

Does anyone know of any other sites, stores or product lines dedicated to the promotion of fair trade? Leave a comment to let me/us know. Thanks!

Posted by Amber at 10:22 AM

November 07, 2003

On the Rights of the First Nations in Canada

Still catching up on topics of interest...one being the human rights of First Nations people in Canada. Just found an open letter dated June 5, 2003 from AI Canada to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. This letter came, by mere coincidence I'm sure, days after I sent an e-mail to AI Canada about certain injustices in B.C.

Posted by Amber at 03:39 PM

November 04, 2003

Senator Daschle Dishes It Out

From the Nov. 3, 2003 COBELL v. NORTON press release: "Citing damaging provisions that would effectively stay the recent Cobell v. Norton decision and the omission of additional funding for the Indian Health Service, Senator Tom Daschle today criticized the FY 2004 Interior Department appropriations bill."

Daschle Dishes It Out Here

Posted by Amber at 09:13 AM

November 03, 2003

The Overwhelming State of Gujarat

I am only just now bringing myself up to speed on the depth and breadth of the injustice that continues to plague the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat. Here are just a few items from the last two months...courtesy of Human Rights Watch (India) and Sabrang Communications ("Protecting & Promoting Human Rights in India").

A grave situation indeed exists in this territory.

In an effort to stay up-to-date I've found a daily monitor of the human rights situation in India.

I will try and find some associated action items to combat the inevitable information-overload-paralysis syndrome.

Posted by Amber at 11:59 AM

October 27, 2003

Michael Moore Comes to Portland

Thanks to VJ for sharing her perspective on Michael Moore's recent visit to our fair city. I didn't even have to twist her arm! Thanks VJ!

I went to see Michael Moore the other night at Memorial Coliseum. I've been feeling rather morose about the political situation in the U.S. so, it was gratifying to see the place sold out. In spite of glib titles like "Dude, where's my country" and "Stupid White Men", his work is laced with humor but very well researched. He hit the high points you might expect: Bush lied about Iraq, and meanwhile our soldiers are dying there; other developed countries don't understand why we show such disrepect to our worst off; why are our elected officials moving towards electronic voting (which destroys the evidence) when we've recently seen election fraud; Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction, and his old refrain about drug addicts ("lock 'em up and throw away the keys").

One of the humorous high points that he has done on every talk on the tour is a test of civics and geography with the "smartest" Americans versus the "dumbest" Canadian from the audience, where invariably, the Canadian can answer all the questions while the Americans can't. Questions posed to the Americans included who is the Prime Minister of Canada (Jean Chretien), what is the capitol of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario), and what are three countries that border Afghanistan (Pakistan, China and Iran are three possibilities).

Moore finished by advising us not to have a "Anyone but Bush" mindset — he reminded us that this early in the process, we could actually say to the candidates — hey, I like most of your stands, but I can't vote for you while you're anti-gun control — and have some effect. I left feeling empowered that I might be able to make some difference.

Posted by Amber at 08:08 PM